Just Sarin

Some good graphs for 2011

2012-01-04T21:47:00.001-08:00

http://alphanow.thomsonreuters.com/2011/12/2011-charts-of-the-year/

Especially check out the Apple vs. Banks of PIIGS graph!

New Empire Avenue strategy...

2012-01-01T09:36:00.000-08:00

I'm changing my strategy on Empire Avenue a bit.

My old strategy was simple - match purchases as my eaves available would allow.

Now I'm looking to maximize my dividends. Hence anyone who own's less than 200 of me and has a dividend yield of less than 0.50% is going to be sold.

I will add people with dividend yield greater than 1.0% or who own more than 200 of me.

8 craziest lawsuits of 2011

2011-12-27T00:44:00.001-08:00

Can you believe that someone sued a movie for not living up to its name?

http://mobile.theweek.com/article/index/222193/the-8-craziest-lawsuits-of-2011

=====================================
Sarin Suares
GSM +91-98184 17762
=====================================

Must Read: Is Santa real - a CHRISTmas parable

2011-12-25T10:47:00.001-08:00

---------- Forwarded message ----------
From: Maxwell Pereira

CHRISTmas Parable

I believe in Santa. Do you... ?

I remember my first Christmas adventure with Grandma. I was just a kid.
I remember tearing across town on my bike to visit her on the day my big sister dropped the bomb:

"There is no Santa Claus," she jeered. "Even dummies know that!"

My Grandma was not the gushy kind, never had been. I fled to her that day because I knew she would be straight with me.
I knew Grandma always told the truth.
And I knew that the truth always went down a whole lot easier when swallowed with one of her "world-famous" cinnamon buns.
I knew they were world-famous, because Grandma said so. It had to be true.

Grandma was home, and the buns were still warm. Between bites, I told her everything.
She was ready for me. "No Santa Claus?" she snorted...."Ridiculous! Don't believe it.
That rumor has been going around for years, and it makes me mad, plain mad!!

Now, put on your coat, and let's go." "Go? Go where, Grandma?" I asked.
I hadn't even finished my second world-famous cinnamon bun.
"Where" turned out to be Kerby's General Store, the one store in town that had a little bit of just about everything.
As we walked through its doors, Grandma handed me ten dollars. That was a bundle in those days.
"Take this money," she said, "and buy something for someone who needs it.

I'll wait for you in the car." Then she turned and walked out of Kerby's.
I was only eight years old. I'd often gone shopping with my mother, but never had I shopped for anything all by myself.
The store seemed big and crowded, full of people scrambling to finish their Christmas shopping.

For a few moments I just stood there, confused, clutching that ten-dollar bill, wondering what to buy, and who on earth to buy it for?
I thought of everybody I knew - my family, my friends, my neighbors, the kids at school, the people who went to my church.
I was just about thought out, when I suddenly thought of Bobby Decker.

He was a kid with bad breath and messy hair, and he sat right behind me in Mrs. Pollock's grade-two class.
Bobby Decker didn't have a coat. I knew that because he never went out to recess during the winter.
His mother always wrote a note, telling the teacher that he had a cough, but all we kids knew that Bobby Decker didn't have a cough;
It was just that he didn't have a good coat. I fingered the ten-dollar bill with growing excitement.

I would buy Bobby Decker a coat! I settled on a red corduroy one that had a hood to it.
It looked real warm, and he would like that.

"Is this a Christmas present for someone?" the lady behind the counter asked kindly, as I laid my ten dollars down.
"Yes, ma'am," I replied shyly. "It's for Bobby."
The nice lady smiled at me, as I told her about how Bobby really needed a good winter coat.
I didn't get any change, but she put the coat in a bag, smiled again, and wished me a Merry Christmas.

That evening, Grandma helped me wrap the coat in Christmas paper and ribbons and wrote, "To Bobby, From Santa Claus" on it.
A little tag fell out of the coat, and Grandma tucked it in her Bible
Grandma said that Santa always insisted on secrecy. Then she drove me over to Bobby Decker's house, explaining as we went that -
I was now and forever officially, one of Santa's helpers!

Grandma parked down the street from Bobby's house, and she and I crept noiselessly and hid in the bushes by his front walk.
Then Grandma gave me a nudge. "All right, Santa Claus," she whispered, "get going."
I took a deep breath, dashed for his front door, threw the present down on his steps, pounded his door -
And flew back to the safety of the bushes and Grandma.

Together we waited breathlessly in the darkness for the front door to open. Finally it did, and there stood Bobby.

Fifty years haven't dimmed the thrill of those moments spent shivering, beside my Grandma, in Bobby Decker's bushes.
That night, I realized that those awful rumors about Santa Claus were just what Grandma said they were - ridiculous.
Santa was alive and well, and we were on his team.

I still have the Bible, with the coat tag tucked inside: $19.95.

May you always have:
LOVE to share,
HEALTH to spare
and FRIENDS that care...

And may you always believe in the magic of Santa Claus! And be his helper too.

Merry X-Mas!

2011-12-24T10:54:00.001-08:00

He laid her on the table,
so white & clean & bare.

His forehead wet with beads of sweat, he rubbed her here & there. He
touched her neck & felt her breast, then drooling felt her thigh. The
slit was wet & all was set, he gave a joyous cry. The hole was wide...
He looked inside, all was dark & murky. He rubbed his hands &
stretched his arms... Then STUFFED the xmas TURKEY! ..

May i be the first to wish u & ur dirty little mind a very MERRY ChristMAS

=====================================
Sarin Suares
GSM +91-98184 17762
=====================================

Important dates in 2012

2011-12-20T19:53:00.001-08:00

India Dry Day Calendar - 2012

Jan 26,30
Mar 1,22
May 1
July 1,14
Aug 1,15
Sep 1,3,14
Oct 1,2,8
Nov 1,9
Dec 1,25

Send this important msg to all victims !!!
Kindness Cost Nothing :p

CHEERS...

/via BBM Gautam Arora

=====================================
Sarin Suares
GSM +91-98184 17762
=====================================

Some action that JEE aspirants can take against Russia

2011-12-19T22:36:00.001-08:00

What? Russia has banned the Gita? We should immediately retaliate by
banning "Problems in General Physics" by Irodov.

RT @ruSh_Me @rameshsrivats

=====================================
Sarin Suares
GSM +91-98184 17762
=====================================

Want a new device...

2011-12-19T22:33:00.001-08:00

Want to get a new device for Christmas?
Scratch here
▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒
with a sharp object...

/via BBM Vikram Chadha

=====================================
Sarin Suares
GSM +91-98184 17762
=====================================

Bad things...

2011-12-19T22:04:00.001-08:00

Santa & girl showering together...
Girl: Do bad things to me......
Santa Puts soap in her eyes

/via BBM Gautam Arora

=====================================
Sarin Suares
GSM +91-98184 17762
=====================================

Some morning inspiration - Good day!

2011-12-17T22:31:00.001-08:00

Don't tell God how big your problems are. Tell your problems how big God is.

-Nicholas Cannon

RT @UndertheNeonSky

2011-12-17T10:26:00.001-08:00

Rand or vaishya mein kya fark hai

Rand south africa ki currency hai

Vaishya Sri Lanka ki bank hai

Soch badlo tabhi ye desh badlega

Tombstone

2011-12-17T10:11:00.001-08:00

When I die, my tombstone will say "died from not forwarding message to
10 people" just to scare the shit out of people.

RT @KEYAsMamma @comedyortruth

What do you do when...

2011-12-02T06:14:00.001-08:00

Driving the other day, I couldn't find my favourite CD, so I decided
to listen to something I don't usually listen to for a change. My wife

RT @funnyhumour

I had a lot of dates this weekend...

2011-11-27T07:33:00.001-08:00

I had three dates today. They were incredible. Three more tomorrow.
Thing is, I have to finish this box of dates before it expires.

RT @VanDiablo @SillyP0int

Tee quotes!

2011-11-26T21:30:00.001-08:00

Question by @BadmashFarooq: Wats the most weird quote Printed on a tee
that you have come across?

Answer by @Shaitaaaaan: Twins

What's the funniest one you've seen?

=====================================
Sarin Suares
GSM +91-98184 17762
=====================================

AshDraw and Married life

2011-11-26T04:13:00.001-08:00

This is the closest Ashwin can get to understanding how married life
works. Do all the good work, and then get blamed in the end.

RT @softykid @shahidm @prdyt

Amma Abba ki khwaahish

2011-11-25T21:31:00.001-08:00

Ek Murghi ka Kawwey se rishta ho gaya<3
Jab Murghe ko pata chala, to wo Murghi k paas gaya aur Bola:

Mujh mein kya kami hai?/:)
Smart hoon,
Kawwey se zyada khoobsurat hun,
Tumhari biradari ka hun,
Meri awaaz poorey sheher mein goonjti hai..
Murghon ki Union ka President hun!!":/

Murghi:
Main tumhare jazbaat ki qadar karti hun,

Lekin!!
Amma Abba ki khwaahish hai k Ladka Air Force mein ho

/via BBM Vikram Mali

Can you do the math?

2011-11-19T03:25:00.001-08:00

Sukhram given 5-yr jail for Rs 3 Lakh scam. Kalmadi, with Rs 30,000 Cr
against his name is staring shocked at his calculator right now.

RT @nakulshenoy @JayHind

Another source of knowledge!

2011-11-18T09:03:00.001-08:00

Teacher to KG kid ..
How many months are there in a year ..?
Kid: 12
Teacher: woW..
Tumhe ye kaise pata chala ??
... Kid: "'Baara Mahine Mai Baara Tareeke Se Tujh Se Pyaar Jataon Ga Re ...'
DhInKa ChIkA .'
DhInKa ChIkA .'
DhInKa ChIkA .'
EH EH EH Eh ..,,

=====================================
Sarin Suares
GSM +91-98184 17762
=====================================

Request to vegetarians

2011-11-12T19:58:00.001-08:00

Dear Plant eaters,
Chicken never gave oxygen.
Chicken never gave shade.
Loss of chicken never caused global warming.

Then why eat good plants & trees!

Eat chicken and Go Green!

/via BBM Sadiya

Success!

2011-11-10T17:56:00.001-08:00

On the road to success, there's a curve called failure, a loop called confusion, speed bumps called friends & red lights called enemies.

RT @idillionaire

Kaun Banega...

2011-11-09T01:57:00.001-08:00

On the set of KBC.  A boy got stuck on a Rs. 1 crore question. He uses phone-a-friend and chooses his girl friend to ask the answer.  Amitabh - You've got 30 seconds to answer and your time starts now.  Boy reads out the question and options...  Girl - Mil gaya time tumhe fone karne ka!!!!

Occupy!

2011-11-08T06:58:00.001-08:00

If India had Occupy Dalal Street, we would just go and keep our hankies there. Occupied hai jee, baithe huye hain hum.

RT @GuptRogue @RajneeshKapoor

Every...

2011-11-04T12:40:00.001-07:00

Google: I have everything!

Facebook: I know everybody!

Internet: Without me you are nothing!

Electricity: Keep talking bitches..

RT @funnyorfact

A short prayer

2011-11-04T12:21:00.000-07:00

A change from the jokes, 27 words to sooth the soul.

---------------------------
God our Father,

Walk through my house and take away all my worries and illnesses and please watch over and heal my family in your name,

Amen.
---------------------------

/via email Sheila

Emergency!

2011-10-26T19:40:00.001-07:00

Man: Is this 911?
Police: Yes!
Man: Two girls are fighting over me!
Police: huh! What?...

Man: The ugly one is winning.... Hurry!!

RT @VanDiablo @PurpleParadox

Keeping up with the Smith's

2011-10-20T01:03:00.000-07:00

Banta from Amritsar was visiting the UK for the first time, and had boarded a train from Paddington and was on his way to Cardiff to visit his sister and her family. In the train, sitting across from him, this rather stoic and proper looking Englishman in a pin-striped suit was engrossed in reading the morning's paper.

As the train rolled on, the Sardar was soon bored. Wanting to strike up a conversation he leaned over and asked the Englishman, 'Excuse me Sir, what is your name?'

Not very happy at this development, the Englishman nevertheless obliged and said, 'John Smith. And what is your name Sir?'

Banta replied, 'Banta Singh.

And where are you from Mr. Smith?'

'From Lancashire .

And you Mr. Singh?'

Making every effort to keep up with Mr. Smith, Banta replied, 'From Amritshire!'

This confused the hell out of Mr. Smith. He knew of Bedfordshire, Berkshire, Lincolnshire ,
Worcestersh, but Amritshire???

Eyebrows raised, he asked Banta, 'And on what longitude and latitude would Amritshire be Sir?'

Now it was Banta's turn to look all confused. But not willing to show his ignorance, and not knowing the meaning of these words, he replied in his new found accent ' Sir, You see, in Amritshire we only have BHENKITUDE and MAKITUDE..

/via BBM Gautam Arora

2 certificates you will definitely receive

2011-10-18T22:04:00.001-07:00

You can look at some people and instantly know they're only going to get two awards in life, a birth and a death certificate.

RT @idillionaire

To fill the gaps...

2011-10-18T09:15:00.001-07:00

Do you know why God created the gap between your Fingers?
Because one day a True Love wil come and fill those gaps by holding your hands forever..

Now dont ask me why god created the gap between legs. ;)

/via BBM Gautam Arora

The strong foundations of marriage!

2011-10-17T21:31:00.001-07:00

All married men say after many years of marriage...

'Our marriage is based on trust & understanding...

She doesn't trust me and i don't understand her!!
;)

/Via BBM Garima

The morning after

2011-10-16T05:31:00.001-07:00

There are 3 things scary to see the following morning after you get drunk : 1. Own face 2. Wallet 3. List of outgoing calls

RT @raggedtag @anaggh

The longest lasting relationship

2011-10-15T21:02:00.001-07:00

Your relationship with GOD is more important than anything, because you know for sure that's a relationship that will last forever.

RT @funnyorfact

The importance of capitalization

2011-10-15T20:52:00.001-07:00

Grammar is important! Capitalization is the difference between helping your Uncle Jack off a horse and helping your Uncle jack off a horse.

RT @funnyorfact

How else can you explain it?

2011-10-12T23:54:00.001-07:00

Dear Blackberry,

Thanks for honoring Steve Jobs death with a 3 day silence.

Yours sincerely
Apple

/via BBM Garima

Online parents?

2011-10-09T07:21:00.000-07:00

Twitter, Facebook & Foursquare are literally like parents, one wants to know what u r doing, other wants to know what u r thinking and third wants to know where you are!

A reason to ...

2011-10-08T02:29:00.001-07:00

Wife: Ye galat he ji..Aapne bola tha ki ap bina reason k nahi piyenge..

Husbd: Peene ka reasn h... Diwali aa ri h..aur Rocket chalane k liy
bottle chaiye.

/via BBM Deepak Khosla

Hope you manage to evade this question!

2011-10-08T00:36:00.001-07:00

The most terrifying question a woman can ask a man is: O_o

Notice anything different?

/via BBM Deepak Khosla

Warning!

2011-10-06T00:03:00.001-07:00

A gentle reminder of the consequences of fooling around with someone else's wife......
:
Happy Dussehera

Advice to kids

2011-10-05T06:09:00.001-07:00

This is something I expect to have to implement shortly:

"I have found the best way to give advice to your children is to find out what they want and then advise them to do it."

-- Harry S. Truman

/via Vineet Taneja (FB)

Sign of troubled times

2011-10-02T02:21:00.001-07:00

Your marriage is in trouble if your wife says, 'You're only interested in one thing' & you can't remember what it is ~Milton Berle RT @TaiyouSun @Sexybichoo

Beer or wife, which is your choice?

2011-10-01T11:29:00.001-07:00

I don't need a wife. I have beer. It gives me heaven in night and hell the day after it. RT @_abhishk

A potential definition for purgatory

2011-10-01T03:02:00.001-07:00

If the doctor says you only have six months to live, get married immediately. This will make the six months seem like forever.

/via sms Garima Gupta

The importance of translation...

2011-09-28T04:18:00.001-07:00

Perhaps Google translate is not the best place to learn a foreign language.

An Indian dad tried to show off his english skills..

Instead of asking his friend: "Kya apki beti ghar ke kaam mein hath batati hai?"...

He asked, "Hows your daughter in giving hand jobs at home"!!

Early to bed...

2011-09-27T12:28:00.001-07:00

Agar subah jaldi uthne se takat, Budhi or Dhan badhta to

Paperwala or Dudhwala sab se zyada amir hote"
So Enjoy d Life
Aram se utho.
Sent from BlackBerry® on Airtel

going for empire avenue verification

2011-08-16T13:52:00.001-07:00

{EAV_BLOG_VER:63c9653ec7003465}

i hope this is how it works?

sarin suares' photostream

2011-06-12T02:10:00.001-07:00

sarin suares' photostream on Flickr.

Check out some jazzed up cars I spotted at Westgate mall this weekend.

Never copy...

2010-03-05T06:05:00.001-08:00

Speaker Said:
"Best Years of My Life were spent in d Arms of a Woman who wasn't MY WIFE!"

Audience was in Shock & Silence.

He added: SHE WAS MY MOTHER.

Applause!

A jerk tried to crack this at Home.

After 2 Drinks he said loudly 2 His Wife:
Best Years of My Life were spent in the Arms of a Woman who wasn't my Wife!

Standing for a Moment trying 2 recall the 2nd Half, he finally blurted out:
I can't remember who She was.

By the time he regained his Senses, He was on a Hospital Bed, recovering from Burns of Boiling Water.

Moral: DON'T COPY IF YOU CAN'T PASTE!!

Pranav Mistry - TED talk

2009-12-20T06:52:00.001-08:00

really a good talk. worth a watch.

---------- Forwarded message ----------
From: Shalini Upadhyay

I am not one for random mail forwards,....but found this one to be truly thought liberating !!

Its about 12 minutes....worth all that time ,and more .

http://economictimes.indiatimes.com/tv/TED-India-Pranav-Mistry/videoshow_ted/5231080.cms

Shalini

For Safety Always SMS

2009-10-11T03:08:00.000-07:00

Just got this on sms. Seems like something built over the ICE number
concept.

Basically, send info from your cell phone to this number, and police can
check it in case you're missing...

Of course, you need to be aware of it :-)
------ SMS ------
For Safety Always SMS your Taxi/Auto/Bus/Lift taken Vehicle Number to
08010NEECIA (08010633242) before riding. Local SMS. Visit save.neecia.com
for details.

Fwd: FW: The Rosary (A true story.)

2009-08-03T10:32:00.001-07:00

a very interesting story :-)

---------- Forwarded message ----------

From: brenda dhillon

Jim Castle was tired when he boarded his plane in Cincinnati, Ohio, that night in 1981. The 45-year-old management consultant had put on a week long series of business meetings and seminars, And now he sank gratefully into his seat ready for the flight home to Kansas City, Kansas.

As more passengers entered, the place hummed with conversation, mixed with the sound of bags being stowed. Then, suddenly, people fell silent. The quiet moved slowly up the aisle like an invisible wake behind a boat. Jim craned his head to see what was happening, and his mouth dropped open. Walking up the aisle were two nuns clad in simple white habits bordered in blue. He recognized the familiar face of one at once, the wrinkled skin, and the eyes warmly intent. This was a face he'd seen in newscasts and on the cover of TIME. The two nuns halted, and Jim realized that his seat companion was going to be Mother Teresa!

As the last few passengers settled in, Mother Teresa and her companion pulled out rosaries. Each decade of the beads was a different color, Jim noticed. The decades represented various areas of the world, Mother Teresa told him later, and added, 'I pray for the poor and dying on each continent.'

The airplane taxied to the runway and the two women began to pray, their voices a low murmur. Though Jim considered himself not a very religious Catholic who went to church mostly out of habit, inexplicably he found himself joining in. By the time they murmured the final prayer, the plane had reached cruising altitude. Mother Teresa turned toward him. For the first time in his life, Jim understood what people meant when they spoke of a person possessing an 'aura'. As she gazed at him, a sense of peace filled him; he could no more see it than he could see the wind but he felt it, just as surely as he felt a warm summer breeze.

'Young man,' she inquired, 'do you say the rosary often?'

'No, not really,' he admitted.

She took his hand, while her eyes probed his. Then she smiled. 'Well, you will now.' And she dropped her rosary into his palm.

An hour later Jim entered the Kansas City airport where he was met by his wife, Ruth.. 'What in the world?' Ruth asked when she noticed the rosary in

his hand. They kissed and Jim described his encounter. Driving home, he said. 'I feel as if I met a true sister of God.'

Nine months later Jim and Ruth visited Connie, a friend of theirs for several years. Connie confessed that she'd been told she had ovarian cancer. 'The

doctor says it's a tough case,' said Connie, 'but I'm going to fight it. I won't give up.'

Jim clasped her hand. Then, after reaching into his pocket, he gently twined Mother Teresa's rosary around her fingers. He told her story and said, 'Keep it with you Connie It may help.'

Although Connie wasn't Catholic, her hand closed willingly around the small plastic beads.

'Thank you,' she whispered. 'I hope I can return it.'

More than a year passed before Jim saw Connie again. This time her face was glowing, she hurried toward him and handed him the rosary.

'I carried it with me all year,' she said. 'I've had surgery and have been on chemotherapy, too. Last month, the doctors did second-look surgery, and the tumor's gone. Completely!'

Her eyes met Jim's. 'I knew it was time to give the rosary back.'

In the fall of 1987, Ruth's sister, Liz, fell into a deep depression after her divorce.

She asked Jim if she could borrow the rosary, and when he sent it, she hung it over her bedpost in a small velvet bag. At night I held on to it, just physically held on. I was so lonely and afraid,' she says, 'yet when I gripped that rosary, I felt as if I held a loving hand.'

Gradually, Liz pulled her life together, and she mailed the rosary back. 'Someone else may need it,' she said.

Then one night in 1988, a stranger telephoned Ruth. She'd heard about the rosary from a neighbour and asked if she could borrow it to take to the hospital

where her mother lay in a coma. The family hoped the rosary might help their mother die peacefully. A few days later, the woman returned the beads. 'The nurses told me a coma patient can still hear,' she said, 'so I explained to my mother that I had Mother Teresa's rosary and that when I gave it to her

she could let go; it would be all rosary in her hand. Right away, we saw her face relax. The lines smoothed out until she looked so peaceful, so

young.' The woman's voice caught. 'A few minutes later she was gone.'

Fervently, she gripped Ruth's hands. 'Thank you.'

Is there special power in those humble beads? Or is the power of the human spirit simply renewed in each person who borrows the rosary? Jim only knows that

requests continue to come, Often unexpectedly. He always responds though, whenever he lends the rosary, 'When you're through needing it, send it back. Someone else may need it.'

Jim's own life has changed, too, since his unexpected meeting on the airplane. When he realized Mother Teresa carries everything she owns in a small bag, he

made an effort to simplify his own life. 'I try to remember what really counts - not money or titles or possessions, but the way we love others,' he says.

MAY GOD BLESS YOU ABUNDANTLY, MAY MOTHER MARY ASK HER SON JESUS TO SHOWER YOU WITH GRACE.

Please feel free to pass this mail on, especially to all those in despair so that they might know that they are not alone in their hour of need. The reason I sent you this mail is because I know the power of the prayers of these simple beads and I wanted to share it with you. Every sacrifice has a fruitful reward. Every failure has a second chance.

We only have to be strong thru God's grace and persevere in life's many tests!

May GOD bless you always.

a twitter post...

2009-07-26T02:59:00.001-07:00

in case you're interested in following me on twitter: https://twitter.com/sarinsuares

it might be interesting to visit this site in case you're on twitter: http://www.dailyseoblog.com/2009/03/10-twitter-tools-to-effectively-manage-your-followers/

that gives you a number of tools that you can use to check out your followers / who you're following. specifically, one of the best ones to use is huitter which allows you to knock off those who aren't following you, follow those who are following you... at the click of a single button. (it doesn't support oauth yet, so you'll have to share your login / password with it).

one other nice tool, which doesn't make the 10 tools, but is mentioned on the same blog post.. and includes a bit of the huitter funcitonality is Tweepular. visit to figure out how tweepular you are :-)

Fwd: You may be one of the Top 100 at TGDC

2009-07-19T11:57:00.000-07:00

so this is a mail i receive from the great driving challenge admin....

obviously, spotting the text on the blackberry on waking up, i almost thought that the final list of 100 had been published, and was about to wake the wife up, when i decided to read through the text - just to be sure.

what should i find - a mass message, which most probably has been sent out to all the participants :-(

there went the feeling of being special, one of the select few... i do hope the organizers did restrict this mail out to just the hopefuls / those being considered (can they confirm this), so that the feeling of being special returns :-)

---------- Forwarded message ----------
From: TGDC Team <gdadmin@greatdrivingchallenge.com>
Date: Sun, Jul 19, 2009 at 9:58 AM
Subject: You may be one of the Top 100 at TGDC

Hi,

Thanks for signing up for this challenge and making it a big success in its first phase.

The shortlisting process has begun and soon the jury will come up with the Top 100 contestants list.

You may be one of the Top 100 contestants !

Be the first to know whether you have made it, keep visiting the TGDC site.

If you really happen to be one of the selected Top 100 contestants, you will need to produce the documents given below as a part of our verification and validation process

Driving License
PAN Card copy
Residential proof (telephone bill, electricity bill, Voter ID or passport copy)

If the documents provided are incomplete or do not conform to the terms and conditions, your application will stand disqualified.

We suggest that you keep these documents handy so that they can be produced if you make it successfully to the Top 100.

Feel free to get in touch with us in case you have any query.

All the best !

Support Team

Mitsubishi Cedia Sports The Great Driving Challenge

http://www.greatdrivingchallenge.com
http://facebook.com/greatdrivingchallenge
http://twitter.com/cediatgdc

Note:

The decision of the Event Management in connection with the Event including but not limited to short listing the Applicants will be final and binding and is non-contestable.
Registration does not guarantee the selection or participation of the Applicant and such selection shall be as per the sole discretion of the Event Management/ Jury.
Registration does not entitle the Applicant to a prize/ award.

The information contained in this electronic transmission may be confidential and/or privileged. Access to this electronic transmission by anyone other than the intended recipient(s) is unauthorised. If you have received it in error please notify the sender immediately. Please then delete the e-mail and do not disclose its contents to any person. Within the bounds of law electronic transmissions through internal and external networks may be monitored to ensure compliance with internal policies and legitimate businesses purposes.

Travel Plan - The Great Driving Challenge

2009-07-17T09:33:00.000-07:00

The Travel Plan for us - what we're planning to do... if we get selected - click the file link, and download the pdf.

View Travel Plan in a larger map

Let The Roller Coaster Magic Begin – Disney Land Paris

2009-07-17T05:15:00.000-07:00

While most people visiting Paris would want to wine and dine, the eternal child in me was craving for a visit to Disney land. So off to Disneyland went Sarin, Beau and me, with help from Nitin on which trains to board and most importantly which side of the platform to be on :-). We got up at wee hours of the morning, actually, we were woken up by our gracious and caring host - the Goel family who took utmost care of us during our stay in Paris and helped us immensely in planning our entire sightseeing in Paris and fed us with delicious home cooked Indian vegetarian food ranging from bread rolls to pav bhaji to pancakes. The food Bhavna cooks is nothing short of yummy ever :-)

We wanted to reach Disneyland early and try and catch up on as many rides as we could as we were warned of the massive crowd and circuitous lines at Disney and we almost reconciled ourselves to not more than 3-4 rides. Since none of us are early risers it was extremely difficult for all of us to keep our eyes open but since we had to change trains there was no option but to look sharp lest we miss the station.

It was a long journey (took us almost over an hour to reach Disneyland) but once there the eyes automatically were wide open and the sleep also went off for a ride. We walked towards Disney land expecting huge crowd and sent off Sarin to buy the tickets while we bought a raincoat for Beau as it had started to drizzle and Beau was not carrying a raincoat. Surprisingly we saw Sarin walking back with tickets in his hand. We thanked our lucky stars and quickly pushed off for the rides before the crowd started to swell.

The Disney map was collected and we went to the Adventure land (Disneyland is divided into some 5 lands - Discovery land; Adventure land; Frontier land; Fantasy land and Main Street USA, each theme based and having their own set of adventure rides; kid’s zone; shopping area and lot more stuff). Tip – once you enter grab a map and decide on what you want to see (or if you really have the time, then plan from before).

We started off with our first ride - The Big Thunder Mountain and the catalogue read “Its Dynamite”
IT was nothing more than …yawn …..but thankfully we didn’t have to queue up for this one :-)

Next it was Indiana Jones and Temple of Peril [anyone who knows Sarin doesn’t even need one guess on why :-)] and since there was no queue to enter we thought it was a good bet. Moreover the catalogue read “Prepare yourself for a whip-cracking adventure as you enter the Temple of Peril and find yourself in a runaway wagon speeding through the ancient ruins. Tummy-turning action”. Well it was anything but tummy turning (check out our pics where we tried hard to look scared). Disappointed? Well, yes we were a bit as we wanted the rides to really shock us out of our wits.

By now Sarin started getting his confidence back (well he is not a great one for these topsy-turvy rides) as we moved on to our next ride “Space Ride”. Four feet something, that Sarin always considers me, he always wanted me to check my height to ensure that I pass that test before I stepped on the ride :-)

We went on to the ride and wwhhoooaaaaaa it was really amazing. The shuttle started to move ahead slowly chugging along and then the announcement came get ready for your space ride ….in ….Three …..Two …..One and wwwooooppppsssssss before you could blink your eye the shuttle just shot up at top speed …. Before you knew it plunges headlong – double its previous speed. And then it was turns and loops which just left us feeling dizzy. Well this one sure was tummy turning action and Sarin swore that he will never do it again.

Now, Sarin wanted his lunch break, one good ride (bad by his standards) was just too much for him. Spotting a cool place, we trooped right in. The wait was long and the attendants looked totally confused. We were hungry and completely bored. Finally after lot of persuasion we got a table and lo the waiter was absconding. She came finally huffing and puffing but she was an extremely courteous and efficient girl though can’t say the same about the kitchen staff. The food was good and we were famished and quickly gulped it down (savoring food is never been our forte). Final round Sarin and Beau ordered for an icecream each and it was huge. We tipped the girl and set out for our next set of rides.

As we walked out towards the Disneyland park there was an announcement of the Disney Parade happening and so off we went to watch. It was cute with all the Disney characters in a small blue train waving and dancing. After the parade we went back to the Disney park and tried the Rock and Roll coaster. The lightning fast ride is accompanied by hi-amp rock music. For once the ride was perfectly described in the catalogue “As the music rocks, you'll "roll" from 0 to 100km/h in less than three seconds, into hairpin turns, jaw-dropping and over-the-top flips, upside down through a state-of-the-art rock video...” Lo!! that was nothing short of being awesome. Despite the adrenalin rush Sarin loved this ride being a great fan of rock music and for once I didn’t mind the noise being a great fan of thrill rides :-)

After that we shopped a little in the Disney shop where I bought a princess sweatshirt for my niece and a Mickey Mouse toy and Winnie the Pooh key chain for myself and Beau bought the Shrek donkey for “a friend” of his ;-) We posed among the big cars ; managed to catch up a street performance while we walked over to the Twilight Zone Tower of Terror Ride.

The ride did look quite scary and he queue was long which took half the fun off the ride. The ride is situated inside a eerie looking hotel (that’s how it is made up like). A group of fifteen people are led to a room and you are asked to stand within the boundaries of the carpet. You almost faint at the thought of a ride without any thing securely strapping you up. But that is just for the introduction to create the eerie feeling. Then you are escorted to a place where there a 4 lifts in a row. When your turn comes you climb up the lift and are strapped. The lift has a capacity of approx 15 people.

In our lift a couple got in with their two little kids. The younger kid was getting edgy and seemed like he didn’t want to get on the ride. The attendant told the parents that she will need to ask the kid before starting the ride. The attendant then asked the kid do you want to go “up and down, up and down” The child let out a small cry and then the attendant gestured with her hand and said “up and down, up and down” the child started wailing. The attendant told the parents that the child can’t go. It was mothers turn to ask and she said “up and down, up and down”, and the child let out his loudest cry meaning Cant you UNDERSTAND I DO NOT WANT TO GO… The parents finally gave up and discussed among themselves on who would take the ride. After a few seconds a reluctant father stepped out of the lift with the boy.

It was an exhilarating experience where the ascent of the lift is followed by gravity defying drop. This ride was fun more so because through out the ride we just kept telling each other “up and down, up and down”.

By now Sarin had enough of the rides. But we were not going to let the Crush’s coaster let go past us without trying. The crush’s coaster was based on finding nemo where you ride on the turtle. There are four seats two in front of turtle and two facing back. While standing in the line I decided to sit facing the rear since all the rides were till now front facing. Our turn came and the turtle not only did the ceremonial ups and downs but also did a 360 degree spin throughout. So it never really mattered whether you were sitting in front or back. This ride was definitely not kids play :-)

Sarin just gave up after this ride but me and Beau hadn’t had enough we went back to the adventure land where the rides did not have a queue (much to Sarin’s reluctance he had no option but to go with us *wink*). This time Beau and I decided to sit right at the front of each ride. We went again on the Big Thunder Mountain; Indiana Jones; Rock and Roll and twice on Space ride. This time around we screamed and screamed out our lungs. By the end of it Sarin just wanted to kill us.

By now it was seven and in an hours time the big Disney parade at night was about to begin. We roamed about and had some snacks at the kiddie zone. We waited for a while before the procession began. Well this is one stunning show with illuminated float after float carrying Disney characters along with music and dance. The parade ends with fireworks, can’t say the same about the fireworks, have seen better ones for sure. Though the backdrop of the castle combined with the fireworks does make a memorable sight.

The parade ends almost in time for every one to catch up the last train and like all others we also rushed to the station. Once we boarded the train we realized how tired we were by the end of it and didn’t realize in sheer excitement of the rides. This sure turned out to be a fun filled day.

Go visit Disney land and let the magic begin……

I BELIEVE I CAN FLY, I BELIEVE I CAN TOUCH THE SKY - Experiences of Our Sky Dive

2009-07-17T01:54:00.000-07:00

It all started with my desire to go for a sky dive and then one plan led to another and in the end it all converged into our Euro trip. Beau was supposed to do the bookings since he was in London and that’s where we planned to Sky Dive. But till we reached Pisa the bookings were yet to be done (never trust your younger siblings as they can never get any thing right – here I am talking from experience of being one *wink*) and finally one fine afternoon at Pisa we searched the website, called up a few places which offered sky dive and finally booked ourselves with Skydive Weston.

We landed in London where ‘B’ came to pick us at the station and we were more excited at the thought of sky dive next day than meeting each other :-) Next day we got up really early (probably the excitement didn’t let any of us sleep), reached the station where we grabbed a sandwich and coffee before boarding the train to Bicester. It was a two hour journey (‘B’ and Sarin slept) and we all were fervently hoping that our dive should not be washed away by the rains.

After reaching Bicester we took a cab to the sky dive premises. The cabbie was an Indian and chit-chatted the entire way telling us about where who’s-who of the world shop when they visit Bicester. We reached the Sky Dive location and entered the lush green lawns with our heads held high watching mere dots drop from the sky and gradually convert into humans as they approached the ground. We went and met the organiser who started with the enrolment proceedings – enrolment form and insurance (well a few more pounds won’t hurt). One look at the insurance pamphlet and the already existing apprehensions on whether to do it or not start to resurface :-) as the pamphlet gives details of various events which can occur starting with loss of one or two eye moving on to loss of one or two limb to loss of life.

It was eleven and we almost had another hour or more to go before our dive, the anxiety and excitement gave us hunger pangs and we hit the cafeteria. Post brunch ‘B’ went off to sleep and ‘S’ also couldn’t keep his eyes open for long (though he tried real hard).

Finally around twelve we made our way to the training area for the training (late as usual!!). At the training we weren’t listening to the instructor with as much concentration as we should have as we were busy listening to what was going on in our minds [except Sarin who didn’t have an option but to listen to anything but what my mind said and it said “Sarin there is no backing out now “ :-) ].

From there on we were led to preparatory area where our name was up on the board with the name of our instructor. We met our instructors, one more experienced than the other. They saw our sizes and then reshuffled the pairing. Sarin got an instructor who was almost his size and weight; my instructor was a towering personality - double my height (Sarin claims that anyone would look tall in front of his 4 footer and the instructor was 5ft 10 where as I claim to be 5ft something and my instructor to be well above 6ft- Check out the picture and decide for yourself), Beau’s instructor was the best, much shorter than him and not as healthy as him but the most experience of all ;-) (I can foresee death at hands of Beau for associating the phrase healthy with him and not Sarin).

Bargained a little more with the photographers, trying to get a good deal since we were three of us (well guess you can take an Indian out of India but not the bargaining habit out of him). Finally after what seemed like eternity our turn came, the heart beat was faster than usual as we wore the jump-suits. After that the time just went by checking the equipment and a quick word from the instructor to re-cap on the training. The photography continued side by side.

We walked over the lush green lawns with our entire gear when Beau discovered that he was not given gloves and his instructor was not wearing a jump suit like others. Perplexed at this sight, he asked his instructor for gloves, who promptly asked him who was going to manage the chute and that was end of the discussion. Sarin and I just couldn’t stop giggling looking at Beau’s reaction and showed off our gloves till we reached the plane.

One more set of quick instruction followed and we jumped on the plane and off we went. It was a small plane and there were 12 people apart from the pilot. Facial expressions clearly distinguished the pros from the first timers. My instructor was definitely the best as throughout the ride he kept conversing with me and made me absolutely comfortable.

Slowly and steadily the plane went up-up and away and we were on the top of the world (Well 12000 ft by any standards WOULD BE considered as top of the world) before we took the PLUNGE.

The debate still continues till date on which was scarier - when we decided to take the plunge on 14th April 2007 or this one ;-). The feeling upon this plunge is not unexplainable but difficult nevertheless. Jitters, butterflies in tummy, anxiety, trepidation are all mere words… ‘Shitting bricks’ comes vaguely close to explaining the feeling that we had when each one of us was standing at the edge of the plane, with our legs hanging.

Well enough of trivia and back to the jump. When the plane is high enough, the trainers start to check the equipment again along with a quick recap of what you are supposed to do with each tap on your right shoulder:

– put your legs up when he stands at the door
– hands crossed over your chest
– Look left to get your moneys worth ; that’s where the camera man is
– Breathe normally (though that does tantamount to asking for too much at that moment)
– Post the jump once he taps on your shoulders put your legs down and free your arms and most important don’t forget to look at the camera !!
– Second tap get your legs and arms back in original position
– Chute opens up and then you can be a free bird again

A loud horn indicates that the adequate height has been achieved and the shutter door opens up as your heart skips one too many beats. Before you realise all the pros gave the thumbs up and keep jumping off the plane one by one. It was time for Sarin to go and he was surprisingly cool as a cucumber (despite his self acknowledged fear of heights) while me n Bo were actually looking petrified. Cool dude Sarin went and puuufffff… he vanished among the clouds…..

When my turn came, my darling instructor asked me to slowly move towards the door, while sitting. Once we reached the door, strong winds hit my face, my eyes almost pooped out of my sockets and my jaw dropped and almost hit the ground (well, actually the floor of the airplane). It was absolutely breathtaking, actually I was gasping for breath as all I could see were the clouds and then the first tap came –legs up and hands crossed, ever heard the phrase living on the edge well at that moment I just experienced it. Tap two look to the left, I was almost frozen and I didn’t respond to the tap, my instructor just turned my head and then wooooaaaaaaaaa…… we jumped.

Finally Beau went he was asked to put his legs up but being much taller than the instructor he couldn’t manage the instructor waited for a few seconds, gave up on Bo and jumped and puff he was gone too …….

We took a complete 360 degree turn after jumping off the plane and I could see the plane above me. My entire world had turned in a matter of a few seconds, with the ground over my head and plane at my feet. In fact there a total loss of sense of direction (Do I actually possess it normally? Sarin’s answer would definitely not be in affirmative). I regained control (my instructor was always in control) as we turned over.

Tap three - free your hands and legs and feel like a bird and battle with very strong winds hitting your face as you pass through the clouds. And hey don’t forget the most important part smile for the camera as the instructor points out to the camera man. The free fall lasted for about 20-30 secs and those few seconds seemed like eternity then.

Tap four – back in the original position, a not so sudden jerk (you are already told about it) before the chute opens. I could finally see my legs and realised how it was to be hanging in between the sky and the earth. Tap five – free your arms and leg. Tap six – just checking if you are okay :-) Smiles were exchanged mid air with my instructor and he asked me if I was ready for a spin. I nodded still overwhelmed with the dive to start talking. Woohhhoooooo spin one and I let out a loud laugh and my world famous giggle. Realising that I was enjoying this I got a few more spins before we started descending by slowly drifting in the sky. My landing was smooth unlike Bo and Sarin’s who just crashed.

Beau and Sarin were waiting for me to land after their photo session and contemplating if they should go for the second dive as it was cheaper and we already had the insurance. I landed and smiled wide for the camera and hugged and kissed my darling instructor and Sarin for a second almost felt that I might fly off with the instructor :-)

Feeling happy like never before, we got off our jumpsuit, collected our certificates, lazed around the lush greens while waiting for our cab to arrive.

Famous last word on our dive - We believe we can fly and we know that we have touched the sky :-) Stop reading now …GO FOR IT :-)

P.S.: Here's the warrior after his mighty flight :-)

To view our sky dive videos, click here: Vidya, Sarin and Dhiren

ROMe-ANCE

2009-07-16T22:51:00.000-07:00

From Nice we boarded the blu-express and landed in Rome on Day 7 of our trip and our ROMe-ANCE ended on the 9th day. We had already booked ourselves at this amazing hostel (AUXILIUM CHRISTIANORUM) right next to the Vatican and I would strongly suggest everyone to book themselves here when they are visiting Rome (refer to address post the travelogue).

This place apart from being walking distance from the Vatican is centrally located and is right next to the station; bus stop. Most importantly the hostel has an angel in form of Sister Helen who will assist you completely and make your stay most memorable and comfortable. After checking in she provided us with the map and marked out the places of interest which we would want to cover. She also wrote down the bus numbers and the stops for each of the items on the map.

We went to the room to freshen up and decide that at Rome our basic itinerary would be to spend our time sightseeing by the day and lazing in cafés (which was usually at Piazza Navona) watching the world go by in the evenings.

The sights and treasures of Rome are endless and we started our discovery by visiting the Pantheon and then walked down the by lanes to reach Trevi Fountain (Fontana di Trevi). Apart from being super beautiful the place was also super crowded. We finally managed a place to sit next to the fountain and enjoyed the breezy evening. According to the legend anybody who throws a coin in the fountain returns. Though, we did not throw a coin but sure know that one day we will return to Trevi and Rome…. since all roads lead to Rome :-)

We walked back from Trevi and landed at Piazza Navona. Piazza Navona is a very lively place with plenty of stylish restaurants, gelato bars and everyday musical or artistic performance. The romantic candle light dinner as usual consisted of a beef stake for Sarin and you guessed it right, pasta for me :-) By the time we wound up for the day it was well past eleven and we caught the bus back to the hostel.

Next day we got up and went down to the breakfast table where sister Helen was eagerly waiting for us as it was almost time to close out on the breakfast. We had a good meal consisting of toast, boiled eggs, muffins, apples and coffee/tea.

We set out to see the Vatican museum and St Peter’s Basilica. The moment we stepped on the St Peter’s square we were completely overwhelmed by the grandeur of the square. We quickly walked to the Vatican museum as we were already running late. The serpentine line almost started the moment we left square :-) While I waited in the line Sarin moved ahead to check if there was some “jugaad” possible. Finally he called asking me to come forward he managed to beat the crowd thanks to a tourist group. The line moved fast and in half an hour we were in the Vatican. The sheer volume of works in the Vatican is enchanting and thanks to the headphones understanding the works of great artist is made simpler. Just walking across the Vatican and stopping for few works (Sistine chapel being the most prominent one) took us almost an entire day.

We returned to St Peter’s square and stood in the line to get inside the Basilica. Unfortunately Sarin was carrying his favorite pocket knife which got detected in the security check and we were asked to either throw it in the bin or step aside. Since he didn’t want to part with it we walked back from the square to the food stalls on the side of the road and asked them to keep it till we came back. One of them was finishing his duty in half an hour and requested us to approach the next stall where Sarin managed to strike a deal.

We went back to the square and managed to get an entry and then quickly rushed to the top of the Basilica. The view from the top of the St Peter’s square is imposing. We sat down, spent some time enjoying the view, and clicked a few shots before we started descending to enjoy the church. At the church we did a ceremonial round of each and every corner, offered our prayers and walked back to the hostel to refresh.

A bath and we set out again this time St Peter’s square wore a deserted look and the sun set in the back drop made the square look much more mesmerizing than it did during the day. We continued to walk towards Castel Sant'Angelo where we enjoyed seeing another couple get wedded (Sarin was happy that he was not alone in this world to make the mistake).

We walked towards Ponte Sant'Angelo and through the streets, squares and gobbled up watermelons (which we carried with us) sitting on the marble benches while looking at the fountains (there are one too many at Rome). Then we returned back to Piazza Novana again for dinner (somehow both of us secretly fell in love with the place). Even though this time around we tried out a different restaurant for dinner but chose the same food (yup beef stake and pasta). We walked back to the hostel set our alarms for six in the morning as we had to leave with Sister Helen for the Sunday morning mass at seven.

Alarm went off in the morning but our sleep didn’t. Woke up at seven got dressed up in a jiffy and by the time we rushed down we realized that Sister had left. We set out to the Vatican in the hope of catching up with sister at the mass itself. We entered the St Peter’s Basilica only to find one mass happening at each altar and none of them were in English. We went around and asked a priest where we could find an English mass, he asked us to wait while he would just check and come back. We waited for a few minutes before Father and two altar boys approached us and led us to one of the smaller altars. When the mass started the wedding day actually came flashing right in front of our eyes and we relived our wedding vows. Some emotions can’t be described in words and this was one such experience. The mass ended with lots of good wishes and blessings being showered upon us and a one on one chat with the Father where we shared a glimpse of our lives with him. The initial disappointment of not being able to attend a mass with the Pope (since he was on a vacation) simply vanished. The trip to Rome was much bigger success for us than we had ever imagined it would be.

Happy …ummmmm …..No !!…. Ecstatic with the proceedings of the morning we walked back to our hostel, as usual looked at the laundry shop down the road, hoping against hope and praying as always, that it would open on the weekend and we would be able to get our clothes cleaned. We entered the hostel where we shared our experience at the Basilica over the breakfast table with Sister Helen. She was quite happy for us as she almost thought that we had missed the Sunday morning mass. We discussed with her on our transport to the station early next morning for our train to Florence and she promptly agreed to help us and book us a cab while we were out in the afternoon.

We set out to explore more of Rome and one look at the map and we knew what we wanted to see - Monumento Nazionale a Vittorio Emanuele II (which reads as The National Monument of Victor Emmanuel II in English); Colosseum and Arch of Constantine. The majestic stairway leading to the open foyer of the National monument (from where you get a good glimpse of Colosseum and other monuments nearby) and the huge statue of Emanuele welcome you. Inside the monument a visit to the museum (though small compared to what we saw on this tour) is a must as it carriers some interesting articles. We stopped at the fountain outside for our ceremonial drinks and munching break.

We then proceeded to visit the Colosseum and the moment we set our foot inside the Colosseum instantly Sarin imagined himself as a gladiator of roman era :-) (Though Sarin has been to Rome before but the Colosseum and St. Peiter’s Basilica still manage to bring a smile on his face and a spring in his steps.) We made our way through the serpentine lines and booked ourselves for the guided tour (Highly recommended). The tour is for twenty minutes and after the basic understanding of Colosseum history and the structure you are free to explore it on your own.

We were quite hungry by the time we came out of the Colosseum and headed for the sandwich joint at the train station right across the road (highly avoidable – to know why just read on). Sarin ordered for a ham sandwich while I ordered for an egg sandwich. We crossed the road and right outside the Colosseum started munching on the sandwich. Well, eeekkkkssss is not a word to describe how we felt after one bite of it. We both reluctantly ate the bread (with lots of ketchup) and were wondering what to do with the stuffing when one pigeon came and sat next to my feet and I dropped a small piece of the egg. It quickly picked up the piece and flew away only to bring in more friends. For the next half an hour we were surrounded by pigeons and happily finished all the stuffing by feeding the pigeons.

We walked over to Arch of Constantine and then crossed the road and bought two Roma T-shirts and went on to visit another excavated site next to the Colosseum (don’t remember what it is called). It was around six when we reached our hostel; freshened up and packed our bags as we knew we would be too exhausted by the time we come back from dinner and won’t have time in the morning.

We again walked around more or less the same path as day before and shopped a little (visit to this shop in the by lanes of Rome with wooden artifacts is recommended). This time we chose not to dine at Piazza Navona though we did visit it. Totally exhausted we landed at the hostel where sister was waiting for us. She conveyed that she was unable to get the cab bookings done as it was too early in the morning and suggested that we take a bus from St Peter’s in the morning to the station or hope to catch a cab passing by. She wished us luck while we cursed ours :-)

Well, nothing could be done and worrying is never a solution to problems life throws up. But nonetheless we were little worried as we hit the bed :-) Morning as usual was rushed as getting up at ungodly hours is not our cup of tea and without a cup of tea it becomes a bigger torture :-)

We dragged our luggage along till St Peter’s (giving the laundry down the road one last look *wink*) where we waited for a bus and waved frantically at any car passing by. Twenty minutes of waiting and we got a little worried but finally a cab arrived and after a good round of bargain we quickly got in with our luggage. In the nick of time arrived at the station, did our customary 100 meter dash with our baggage, before boarding the train to Florence.

To cut the long story short, our two cent advice on traveling in Rome, don’t try to cover everything (well something’s sure are impossible) take it slow and give yourself an opportunity to enjoy the surroundings. Rome is best discovered on foot hence ensure that you carry a comfortable pair of shoes. Above all, stock yourself up with lots of munchies (especially if you are a vegetarian like me) and fluids (water and juice, try to avoid aerated drinks) and wear a cap and sun glasses always to beat the heat.

At the end of three days we realized that walking through the streets of Rome time literally flies and you get to see so many beautiful sights without realizing the sheer amount of kilometers you probably walked.

Hostel Address :
PONTIFICIO ISTITUTO MAESTRE PIE FILIPPINI
Via Giuseppe Missori, 19
00165 Roma

Venice - the city of waterways

2009-07-16T14:03:00.000-07:00

After a long tiring day at Florence, we took the evening train over to Venice. Unfortunately we never knew that there were two railway stations for Venice – Venice Mestre and Venice Santa Lucia (definite Tip here in case you’re planning to visit Venice and are planning on going there by Rail) – something that we learned the hard way, but getting down at the wrong one (i.e. Mestre). Venice Mestre is on solid land, and is not in the main Venice with waterways and gondola romance.

Anyway, our little jaunt at Venice Mestre was handled cheerfully thanks to a very helpful Italian family. One of the things that we had figured out thanks to our time spent in the rest of Italy (Rome, Pisa and Florence) was that most Italians don’t speak English very well, but almost all are universally helpful when asked. I don’t know if this is because they’re also dark haired like us or they’re generally helpful, but the ones we bumped into always seemed ready to go out of their way to help us out (and we did look the part of lost tourists at all times).

Returning to our little jaunt on the Venice Mestre platform – we had gotten down from the train and were already beginning to wonder why we couldn’t smell, hear or feel water any where close to where we were. A quick enquiry from the nearest Italian told us that we were nowhere near the area where our hotel was located. A few hand gestures later (Italian is spoken more through hand movements than those of the tongue) we had the entire large family surrounding us, trying to explain what we should do. Of course all the explanation was in Italian, with lots of hand gestures, and we were about to give up when one of them grabbed my hand and led me to the station masters office. After a few brief enquiries, they led us to the platform, where we could get a ticket to the Santa Lucia railway station, and were then racing from one platform to another trying to catch one of the local trains, each time missing by a couple of minutes. On the third attempt, we finally made it on to a train heading towards our final destination for the day.

Once we landed at the Santa Lucia railway station, we had to lug out luggage a good 500 meters (though at that time of the night it seemed much longer) to our hotel – Ai Tolentini. The room was clean and quaint. The fan was slow and creaky. The television was mainly showing static. The bathroom was small, but clean. Most of these are recollections that I now have – at the time, we pretty much just collapsed on the bed, having lugged our bit of luggage enough for the day.

The next morning, we needed to charge our camera batteries and our mobiles. However, we had, cleverly enough, chosen not to travel with an adapter (another Hot Tip – always carry an adapter while travelling). So we spent a little while with the guy at the “registration” desk, who put together some three other adapters to enable us to charge our stuff.

Having charged up our batteries, we set out for our first day in Venice, and trooped off for breakfast at a coffee shop.

Now having the energy, we set out for the rest of the day, which involved a lot of walking around. We didn’t buy a boat day pass, since we planned mostly on walking along the roads of Venice. While walking we did consume a lot of stuff.

And window shopped along the main roads which were peppered with stores selling all kinds of stuff – from masks to jewellery to groceries.

Walking around we did visit the Piazza San Marco, where feeding pigeons is now banned (but we did feed a few crumbs of cheese balls to them anyway) and climbed up the clock tower for an aerial view of the city.

As the evening began to set in, we opted for a gondola ride, and boy was it a let down. I guess its something that you have to do when you go to Venice, but either we were blessed with a hopeless gondolier (who kept yapping away, and sang mostly out of tune), or would put it as a total waste of money (we paid almost a 100 euro’s for a 30 min ride).

A quiet dinner by the riverside, a quick tea time and a walk along the river brought the proceedings for the day to an end.

Day 2 at Venice involved a trip to Murano, an island off Venice where they have glass making factories, and make a special type of colored glass. We did a lot of window shopping around there, but the stuff was just too expensive, and you would be better off buying Murano glass (at least that’s what the guy claimed it was) from Florence (which is where we had already picked up a couple of cheap pieces).

We also had our first encounter with European rain that day, having enjoyed, till then, almost uninterrupted sunshine for almost 10 days. We were lucky to have been given an umbrella by our friends in Paris, so as the rain started, the two of us huddled together under the umbrella and sought shelter in the doorway of one of the hotels nearby. While it was obvious that the hotel staff didn’t like this, no one came and asked us to leave, and there were quite a number of people standing there, so we had safety in numbers.

The rain showed us how enterprising people could be. Standing beside us was an African, who was obviously an illegal immigrant, who was trying to sell Italian leather purses. Thanks to the rains, he had to bundle up all his purses and was carrying them in a sack, but the rain was still getting through to the purses. To shield them, he bought an umbrella, after a quick bargain, from another such African illegal immigrant, right in front of us, for 1 euros (this same umbrella had been offered to us for 2 euros when the rain started). This he used to shield his merchandise, and didn’t really bother about himself getting wet. As soon as the rain stopped, he turned to us, and tried to sell the umbrella to us for 2 euros! Even though he obviously should have noticed that we were right there when he haggled and bought it for 1 euro. I guess some people just have that street sense in them.

The second day also saw us purchase a day pass for the river boats, which entitled us to the transport to Murano (I think there was a slight extra charge there, but I’m not sure) and also allowed us to use the bus system to get us to the Airport, to catch the flight to London. Another discovery, which we got at the bus stop was that the concept of queue’s was as alien to Italians (and tourists in Italy) as it is in India. We also visited a couple of churches and museums, but nothing spectacular to report from that.

Swapping #spymaster follows for Votes!

2009-07-16T11:24:00.001-07:00

hi guys,

i'm willing to swap #spymaster follows for votes and testimonials on my application on the great driving challenge.

Voting instructions :

Step 1 : Visit my profile @ http://www.greatdrivingchallenge.com/application/Sarin/

Step 2 : Click on the vote for us tab (or alternatively, click on http://www.greatdrivingchallenge.com/votenow?appid=1246124612027126 to go to the voting page directly)

Step 3 : Enter your email id and name

Step 4 : You will receive one (ONLY ONE) email with a verification link. Please click on the confirmation link to confirm your vote

For a testimonial, you just need to click the "Write Testimonial" link and enter your name and your wishes for us. (No email will be sent for this)

please do send me the confirmation of vote email to sarinsuares@gmail.com, and i will then follow you on #spymaster! (please make sure you also send me your twitter profile link, so i can follow you)

ROAD LESS TRAVELLED – JAISALMER

2009-07-15T12:01:00.000-07:00

(Delhi – Jaisalmer covering 873 kms one way)

Deloitte had brought us all together and even though we all had moved on to different organizations, the Deloitte bond has still kept us together :-) ‘P’ was coming to Delhi for his x-mas vacations and together with Bunny and Sharma we planned to go out somewhere. As usual with little time on hand it was left to me to decide where and how we would go. We finally decided to take the road less traveled – Jaisalmer. Bookings as usual were not done just managed to book for the dessert safari. Cab never has been a problem, ‘B’ booked us with our very own “Singh is King”.

‘P’ landed in Delhi and all four of us set out in our chariot (Non AC Indica) next day. Being from Rajasthan ‘P’ seemed to know all routes till Salasar and from there on the road to Jaisalmer was amazingly smooth and wide. Well in our excitement we never bothered to think on basic seating issue. Both ‘P’ and ‘S’ are damn tall and ‘B’ and me aren’t thin either and with 5 in Indica, it sure needed lots of adjustment :-)

But our King adjusted the most and listened to our non stop 14 hour live radio (given the fact that all four of us consider ourselves nothing less than Kishore and Lata). Probably he was secretly cursing himself for not bringing the stereo as for most part of the trip our King drove at 140 kms / hr desperate to reach the destination ASAP and stopping only for our much needed “let’s stretch” breaks.

As we approached Jaisalmer the last stretch became very picturesque and with the desert on either side of the road the view definitely is breath taking. We reached Jaisalmer around 1pm on a starry-starry night and were welcomed by deserted roads. Not one soul on the roads to tell us where we could find a place to stay. We began our hunt knocking on doors and went around the old city and in an hours time managed to get booked in a small but comfortable and neat hotel.

Morning came and breakfast was gulped down before we set out to check the Jaisalmer fort (more popularly known as sonar quila) stopping en route to confirm on our safari bookings for the evening. The fort is a beautiful dominating structure so huge that it would have taken us good two days to cover every nook and corner of it. However in the limited time that we had we managed to catch up on the following:

Raj Mahal (Royal palace).
Temples within the fort
Massive gateways and
One Havelis

All of the above were outstanding architectural treasures in their own right. The ornate sandstone carvings, decorated windows, “jharokhas”, archways and carvings on ceilings and wooden doors are delightful and speak of our glorious heritage. (Given the fact that some of the havelis were thousand year old.). As we wandered in the fort we reached the terrace from where the view of the city definitely did command our attention.

Post our trip to the colossal fort we wandered on the streets of Jaisalmer, window shopping and looking for a place to have our over delayed lunch. Once we were finished off with the lunch we drove off for the desert safari on the outskirts of Jaisalmer to some errrrrr Sam Sand Dunes :-)

When we reached a series of ten camels were awaiting us. We choose the camels (well we just got to pick up the neatest and most brightly dressed ones – advantages of reaching on time perhaps). Though a safari invokes a number of images in the minds of the reader one of them being that of a camel swiftly moving on the golden sands, well trust me initially it’s very uncomfortable and nothing close to that but over period of time you actually begin to enjoy it. But the memories of a camel safari usually end with a sore butt :-)

The first phase of Safari ended at the sunset point. Nothing to beat the pleasure of watching the blue sky turn orange and converge in the light brown sand *sigh*. By now we had become quite a champ at riding the camel thing and started to enjoy it (I guess) as we hired camels (by paying extra of course) to wander off in the dunes. We rode on the camels - dunes after dunes and walked - dunes after dunes till we had enough of the sand.

We returned to the base camp the snacks and drinks were being served. The night started with entertainment which was full of fun, color, laughter and above all some absolutely stunning moves by the folk performers. Before winding off for the night the performers requested a few people to join them in one on one dance. The first one to get picked up was our King who matched each and every move of the professional Rajasthani folk dancers with his “Bhangra”. Ultimately everyone hit the dance floor.

Dinner comprised of typical Rajasthani food which was tasty but somehow I am not a great one for the Rajasthani cuisine. Post dinner we had a little fight with the organizers as the toilets were not upto our expectations and almost walked out in the middle of night from the camp.

We got up early next morning we decided to go for a small drive and took the car without telling our king who was fast asleep. During the drive we spotted a sign saying Indo-Pak border. ‘P’, ‘B’ and me got excited and decided to check it out, a reluctant ‘S’ had no option but to agree.

We kept driving till the few houses became fewer and then there was nothing except sand. Along the way whenever we managed to spot someone and asked where the border was they said “right here” and we debated on whether to go back to camp or drive a little further and the border would be “right there”. We drove for almost an hour and towards the end getting quite scared (though no one admits it till date) as the mobile network; milestones disappeared and at few stretches even the roads disappeared as they were completely submerged in the sand. All thoughts on whether we had entered the Pak territory unknowingly etc passed through all minds. We were scared to drive too fast lest we should get hit by an army bullet.

Then finally we saw what we thought was a dead end with the BSF board. We all let out a sigh of relief and parked our car. Two men greeted us and when we told them that we were from Delhi and we just wanted to see the border they were quite amused. They made tea for us and we chit chatted with them for a long time. They shared tit bits about their life style in the army, their families and how they manage to distinguish between a civilian and an infiltrator.

We left the border knowing very well that our cushy corporate long hours were nothing compared to what these men endure but despite all odds they are so proud of what they do. By now it was almost eleven and all of us were really hungry and wanted to head back to the camp. The same road somehow now seemed to take half the time as we drove back with lot of confidence.

When we reached the camp, king was damn furious and concerned about his car. He gave ‘B’ a blasting for taking off without informing him. We apologized and quickly got down to having breakfast and set out on our way back to Delhi. This time we took the route via Jodhpur, stopping over at Jodhpur for lunch. On the way back to beat the heat and make the trip interesting we sang non-stop again for next fourteen hours much to Kings dislike :-)

ANGELS CALLING - VAISHNO DEVI

2009-07-15T11:59:00.000-07:00

Voting instructions :

Step 1 : Visit my profile @ http://www.greatdrivingchallenge.com/application/Sarin/
Step 2 : Click on the vote for us tab (or alternatively, click on http://www.greatdrivingchallenge.com/votenow?appid=1246124612027126 to go to the voting page directly)
Step 3 : Enter your email id and name
Step 4 : You will receive one (ONLY ONE) email with a verification link. Please click on the confirmation link to confirm your vote

For a testimonial, you just need to click the "Write Testimonial" link and enter your name and your wishes for us. (No email will be sent for this)

====================================

(Delhi – Vaishno Devi covering 650 kms one way)

One Friday afternoon during one of our audit assignment ‘K’ asked which weekend we would be taking an off so that he could plan his trip to Vaishno Devi and pray to God before his results for CA Final came out. There were a thousand questions which popped out of the team (me; ‘D’ and ‘G’); when; how; with whom?

The casual conversation which started in the morning landed getting converted in a trip to Vaishno Devi by afternoon. ‘K’ refused to be responsible and go alone with three girls. So the next one hour went on pestering ‘N’ and explaining why he must also pay his visit to the God before his results came as well.

Once that was done all we had to do was get permission for ‘D’ from her parents (an uphill task since it was our first independent road trip). At five ‘D’ and me left for her house to seek permission; though we had already booked for the cab (thanks to my sister) and ‘G’ & ‘K’ had gone home to pack up. After lot of persuasion we finally managed it. ‘D’ packed her bags in a jiffy and we left for my place where we were all supposed to gather.

When we went home, my parents had already got the news of our sudden departure from my sister and they were more prepared to give permission. While I packed up, ‘D’ got a fair share of do’s and don’ts for the trip. We had a quick dinner with a repeat of do’s and don’ts for starters, main course and dessert :-)

Finally ‘N’ and ‘G’ arrived so did our Qualis and we picked up ‘K’ from Green Park and set out. Damn excited we spent the first hour chit chatting; the next hour was dumb charades and as the night set in the energy levels dipped. We all were almost asleep when the driver said that he cant drive thru the night if all of fall asleep. ‘K’ and ‘N’ decided to watch the post by turn (‘K’ feeling happy about his decision to insist on another male companion). ‘K’ and ‘N’ somehow managed to keep the show going but ‘K’ once fell asleep and to our horror the driver punched him on his arm; woke him up and gave him a stern warning against sleeping. Post that somehow all of us lost sleep.

Morning we first stopped to have tea and another stop for breakfast. The driver somehow not only had a problem with sleep part but also with everything we did or didn’t do :-) We reached Vaishno Devi on Saturday afternoon, went straight for the T Series “langar”. After food we began our climb. The first few kms were difficult (we all promised that we will go to the gym regularly to build more stamina once back in Delhi- as they say promises are made only to be broken *wink*) post that it was seemingly easy.

We made it to the shrine by night; had bath in ice cold water at public bath and went ahead for the “darshan”. Lack of sleep and continuous climb left all of us completely exhausted. ‘K’ decided to have a pain killer and we all went off to pick up some coffee and something to eat. “Darshan” were smooth as surprisingly there was not much crowd. Happy with the way trip shaped up we all set out on our way to Bhairon temple. ‘G’ decided to drop out and headed back to “Ardh Kunwari”.

‘K’, ‘N’, ‘D’ and me somehow managed to climb till “Ardh Kunwari” and ‘N’ managed to twist his ankle and managed to sprain his leg. By then ‘K’ was almost falling asleep, the pain killer he had (I think 2 of them) made him completely drowsy. Since we had to get back to work on Monday we didn’t have an option but to carry on. ‘D’ kept pace with ‘K’ ensuring that he didn’t fall off the hill while I kept pace with ‘N’.

‘D’ and ‘K’ reached “Ardh Kunwari” and waited till we arrived. While the boys waited around, we began looking out for ‘G’. Since we didn’t have mobile phones we went around uncovering all faces with grey shawls in order to locate ‘G’. We finally managed to spot her sleeping amidst thousands of people sporting a similar shawl.

The way down from “Ardh Kunwari” was still better as ‘K’ could manage to keep his eyes open. After we reached down it was another assignment to find our “stud” driver. The moment we boarded the cab he started his record on why it is mandatory for one of us should stay awake with him. We cared two hoots about his lecture by then and all of us just crashed off to sleep.

When we did break for lunch the driver started off with his story on how a bus went over the hill because the driver fell asleep at the wheels. ‘G’ somehow believed in the story and was awake chit chatting with him till we reached home at 1am on Sunday night.

That Monday was not just another Monday it was a special one. Though all of us managed to reach office but we were just sleep walking.

Post this there were many many more trips to vaishno devi this will always remain a milestone in my trave path :-)

About Vaishno Devi :

Perched at a height of 5,200 feet above the sea level, Vaishno Devi is a cave in the lower Himalayas. It is considered to be one of the holiest Hindu shrines in North India. The cave is the abode of the Mother Goddess, who is worshipped here in the forms of Maha Kali, Maha Saraswati, and Maha Lakshmi by thousands of pilgrims who come to visit each year.

We are the best Candidates Because …..

2009-07-12T04:31:00.000-07:00

About us

2009-07-12T04:24:00.000-07:00

Voting instructions :

Step 1 : Visit my profile @ http://www.greatdrivingchallenge.com/application/Sarin/
Step 2 : Click on the vote for us tab (or alternatively, click on http://www.greatdrivingchallenge.com/votenow?appid=1246124612027126 to go to the voting page directly)
Step 3 : Enter your email id and name
Step 4 : You will receive one (ONLY ONE) email with a verification link. Please click on the confirmation link to confirm your vote

For a testimonial, you just need to click the "Write Testimonial" link and enter your name and your wishes for us. (No email will be sent for this)

==========================================

We are Vidya and Sarin from Delhi.
He is an Engineer-MBA (IIT-IIM combo) and she is a CA.

He is Mangalorean and she is Tam-Bram.
She is Hindu and He is Catholic
(At least both are South Indians who believe in God)

He likes rock music and She says that’s noise
She loves ghazals and old hindi music and He asks me why are they mourning.

She loved Kung Fu Panda; for him it was just another movie
He loved Terminator Salvation; for her it was nothing less than a headache.
(Forget the genre at least both love music and movies)

He lives to eat chicken and she stops at eggs, but no further.
Who says opposites don't attract?

The attraction was instant almost the moment we met…
I began to giggle while Sarin started to grin…

A match made in heaven? Not really…
A match made at Café Coffee Day outlets and Tankus– specifically!

But it wasn’t only the coffees that got us both going.
It was simply each other – love just started growing.

Now it’s been over two years since our romance began,
And we gave each other a ring and our marriage was planned.

He’s not tall but dark and handsome – That’s two out of three…
And I am pretty adventurous myself – That’s just the way to be…

Please vote for us and wish us all the best,
To ensure our selection ….with lots of warmth and zest…

No two people deserve this trip the way we do…
Do join us in these special moments and witness it all coming true…

our travelogue.... (the summary)

2009-07-12T03:59:00.000-07:00

Our Travelouge….

The way we travelled changed many forms over the years. Childhood travel was under the secure wings of my folks mostly to Calcutta; Jamshedpur and Adra for our annual family get togethers while Sarin traveled with his folks to his hometown in Mangalore and Bangalore.

During teens I had an opportunity to spread my wings and had varied interesting international experiences in Singapore; Hongkong; Bangkok; London ; New York and Kuwait (thanks to Dad being in Air India traveling abroad was made easier). Trips in India were mostly restricted to School and College annual outings or vacation to South India. Sarin on the other hand was busy traveling across north India (visiting Kashmir; Jim Corbett , Rishikesh ..) with his family , going on social work trips to Sat Tal to water proof tanks built in villages and Bhuj to rebuild a missionary camp hit by the earthquake. He also made the occasional trip with college mates to Mussorie and Goa to get away from all the stress of college “studies”.

Post college while family trips to Shimla, Kasauli, Musoori continued, impromptu weekend trips with friends at work place became a norm. It all started with our first rafting trip to Rishikesh and then there was no looking back as I traveled extensively in north India covering routine to obscure routes across Srinagar; Patni Top ; Ukimath; Hemkund Sahib; Valley of Flowers; Mori; Jim Corbett; Nainital; Saatal; Mukteshwar, Rishikesh; Jaipur; Jaisalmer ; Shirdi among other places.

The experiences ranged from being challenging to fun to scary to bizarre from seeking parental permission for friends to losing our way; going on the wrong hill to going over the hill; getting holed up because of land slides or road blockages by authorities at night; searching for accommodation middle of night in no-mans land; facing unruly mobs protesting on roads; extensive checks by CRPF and lots more… we experienced it all. But ensuring that everyone reached office and worked thru Mondays was probably the most challenging task :-)

All along it was always sing-a-song and dumb charades routine which kept us going thru anything and everything.

Joining an audit firm also involved lot of travel in India and Abroad, the most memorable being the month long UN assignment in Brasilia – my first “on my own” international travel. Our quick stop over in London, Frankfurt, Vienna and Salzburg en route Brazil were as impromptu as my trips in India.

It was fun through out the trip; starting from our interactions with people at UN office with the help of translators and above all explaining the vegetarian concepts to people and their assistance in getting me “cebola tomachi piazza” every single day.

- We goofed up our bookings from Frankfurt to Vienna and landed at Vienna at 1 am without hotel bookings.

- Shopped at Frankfurt and left things at shop itself rushing back from the Airport and managing not only to get the things but catch the flight as well

- Got stuck in hostel lift at Vienna almost missing our flight back to India

- Extended our trip to Salzburg by a day; without informing parents and left them wondering at the airport if they had got our arrival day wrong

- Went to Rio beach without swimming costumes; had a wonderful time on the beach and were totally drenched on our flight back to Brazil.

As I reflect back I realize how naïve we were in planning the entire trip or we probably never learnt from the experience because we are as good in slip ups even today.

Sarin at the other end preferred to keep his feet firmly entrenched in one place but even that couldn’t hold him from venturing out on his own to attend weddings of friends and relatives in :

- Mangalore (where he was the best man for a nephew who was elder to him),

- Bhagalpur (where he shopped for a lot of raw silk which still hasn’t been stitched into a kurta),

- Patna (having been there twice, he still hasn’t done any sightseeing because his friends told him that he would be abducted and married off at gun-point if spotted on the roads- though now he sometimes feels that may have been a better options *wink*),

- Indore and Sagar (where he had to spend 24 hours traveling due to delays by Delhi’s winter fogs delaying his flights, when the planned travel time was closer to 10 hours)

- or his ‘only boys’ trips around Europe during his exchange program to Finland while at IIM (covering France, Italy and Germany); sleeping on the trains at night and viewing the sights by day ; going to the north of Finland to try and see the Aurora Borealis; stepping out stark naked in -22 degrees Celsius from a sauna just before spending a night in an igloo.

- or his office seminars which took him across globe to Seoul (where there is a mix of old world wooden buildings between modern concrete sky scrapers), Barcelona (where he saw the lovely Gaudi architechture) and Istanbul (where he took in belly dancing every night).

Thanks to marriage and access to Sarin’s bank balance, the low cost backpacking trips with friends evolved from comfortable to luxurious trips in India and Abroad - our escapades from work.

Our honeymoon spanned Manali (trek to waterfall; snow fights; para sailing), Mauritius (quad biking, para sailing, under sea walk, sub-scooter, Casino), Singapore (Cruise & luge @ sentosa), Phuket (Fantasea), Langkawi (para sailing again!!) over 20 days (sounds more like an adventure trip than a honeymoon, right?). To top it all on our return to India, completely jet-lagged we spent the entire afternoon at police station thanks to a touch-me accident at Bristol circle.

Last year we traveled across Europe for 25 days through Switzerland (Covering Geneva; Gstaad; Bern; Jungfrau and Interlaken), France (Paris; Nice and Monte Carlo), Italy (Florence; Pisa; Venice & Rome), England (for the adrenalin rush - read sky dive) and Scotland. One of our most enriching and finest experiences yet was peppered with adventure; culture; romance and fights.

Though the fights started from arriving at a consensus on the itinerary, they ended once the itinerary was crystallized. From there on it was one roller coaster ride - getting tips from friends on organising a 25 day trip; managing online bookings; surviving on pizza, pasta and sugar doughnut …cutting across language barriers and interacting with people ; becoming kids again at Disneyland Paris; meeting friends and spending time with them; finding our own way through extensive map reading ; reliving our marriage vows during the private mass at St Pieter Cathedral; running across one end of station to another trying not to miss trains, romantic walks (most of the times because we missed the last bus) and candle light dinners … all of it made the trip more than worthwhile.

Our Bangkok trip last year didn’t involve much violence (read fights) as it wasn’t planned. I landed with a 5 day off post enduring extreme work hours (daily average16-18 hours) for over a month and we headed off to Bangkok. Our road trip to Pattaya; Go Karting at Bangkok; Tower Jump; day spent at Pattaya Shooting Range; Ladyboy shows had its own charm. When we thought finally one trip where nothing went wrong I managed to sprain my ankle and landed in the hospital at 2 am to get it fixed before our flight next day morning. The best part about the trip was sitting atop the luggage and doing rounds of airport being pushed around by Sarin. For once I managed to give Sarin his dose of workout which he successfully manages to avoid otherwise.

Most Memorable Domestic trips include :

- His “secret” birthday gift – weekend trip to Ananda in the Himalaya's – our very first and most expensive spa experience where Sarin slept on the massage table!!

- Visit to Jalgaon (for Bhangale’s wedding) and bus trip to Ajanta caves,

- Our drive to Kikar Lodge for our anniversary celebrations;

- Fun times at Nalagarh Fort for my “secret” birthday gift.

- Zip tour and Spa at Neemrana to celebrate Valentine 2009 :-)

Memoirs that would last most people a lifetime have been crammed into the two years of wedded life together already. Who knows what awaits these two souls! [Well since she already has it planned so we know that Andaman; Leh; Greece and South Africa await us in near future :-)]

Great Driving Challenge

2009-07-09T11:20:00.000-07:00

Hey guys, Vidya and me have signed up for the Great Driving Challenge. 3 lucky couples will get a chance to drive the Mitsubishi Cedia Sports car over 10 days for 3000 kms, and the two of us are hoping to be one of those couples.

The first step requires a few votes (you can vote for us @ http://www.greatdrivingchallenge.com/votenow?appid=1246124612027126) and a few testimonials (you can write a testimonial for us @ http://www.greatdrivingchallenge.com/application/Sarin/)

Below is the poster for the Great Driving Challenge. In case you're a couple, and have the enthu to drive, you can also join in... however, don't forget to vote for the two of us as well. :-)

Our entry to the Great Driving Challenge

2009-07-02T13:28:00.000-07:00

hey guys,

we've entered the Great Driving Challenge and need your support to help us qualify. please do visit: http://www.greatdrivingchallenge.com/application/Sarin/ and vote / write a testimonial for us.

looking forward to your support. :-)

sarin.

Fwd: IIPM

2009-06-18T11:08:00.001-07:00

something interesting alright...

---------- Forwarded message ----------
From: Kochhar, Sandeep

Chk this out:

http://careers360.in/lead-story/iipm---best-only-in-claims.html

Regards,

Sandeep

forms for delhi anusmaran

2009-05-17T04:26:00.001-07:00

registration - http://spreadsheets.google.com/viewform?hl=en&formkey=cmR3NmtrX2RYbFlDMHNIaFljWTlFcGc6MA..

feedback - http://spreadsheets.google.com/viewform?hl=en&formkey=clF3SU1iQ2lqTGlnNnZvQ2JDMXFJS0E6MA..

Anusmaran 2009 - Delhi - 17 May 2009 - block the date

2009-05-12T20:29:00.001-07:00

Hi All,

You are all cordially invited with your family for Anusmaran 2009. Anusmaran, the annual global IIMB Alumni meet, is being held across 11 cities. The event in delhi is being held at:

Venue: Jacaranda Hall, India Habitat Centre

Time: 7.45 pm onwards

Date: 17-May-2009

Cost: Rs. 800/- per head (alcohol will be charged seperately)

The invite from the alumni association can be accessed at: http://ss2879.blogspot.com/2009/05/fwd-countdown-anusmaran09.html . This should've been mailed to you by rakesh as well, so if you've not received it, do drop a mail to rakesh.godhwani@iimb.ernet.in with your contact details for addition to the alumni mailing list.

The Broad Agenda for the alumni meet in Delhi is as follows:

7.45 pm - Registration

8.00 pm - Welcome video / institute presentation / address

8.30 pm - Entertainment

9.00 pm onwards - Dinner

9.30 pm onwards - DJ

The registration form for the event: http://spreadsheets.google.com/viewform?formkey=cjVicmp4a3p1MFNCZENRRTlRUUpTanc6MA

Student volunteers would have been calling you for confirmations, and you can enter your details on the registration form provided above, so that we can be a little more organzied on the day of the event itself.

Sandeep Kochhar,

President - IIMBAA Delhi Chapter

GSM: +919711495356, sandeep002@rediffmail.com

RSVP: Praveen Singh, +919990825087, praveen.singh08@iimb.ernet.in

P.S.: various ways to connect with the Delhi Chapter of IIMBAA

1. Yahoogroup - send am email to iimb_delhi-subscribe@yahoogroups.com

2. SMS group - send an sms "join iimbaadelhi" to 567678

3. Facebook group - http://www.facebook.com/group.php?gid=2213979333 (facebook event: http://www.facebook.com/event.php?eid=84792154479 )

4. Linkedin group - http://www.linkedin.com/groups?gid=3736 (linkedin discussion: http://www.linkedin.com/groupAnswers?viewQuestionAndAnswers=&gid=3736&discussionID=3365617 )

Fwd: Countdown - Anusmaran09

2009-05-12T18:37:00.001-07:00

---------- Forwarded message ----------
From: Rakesh Godhwani
Date: Tue, May 12, 2009 at 5:03 PM
Subject: Countdown - Anusmaran09
To:

Dear Alum

Anusmaran, the annual global IIMB Alumni meet , starts next weekend . With our alumni spread far and wide across the world, this is an event that tries to bring together the past and present , a day filled with nostalgia and pride to be associated with IIMB . Anusmaran'09 will be held between 16^th to 23^rd May at 11 following cities New Delhi, Mumbai, Bangalore, Chennai, Hyderabad, Kolkata, London, New York, Hong Kong, Dubai and Singapore . An excellent platform to meet old buddies , make new ones , rekindle relationship with the campus , engage with students , faculty , industry champions and last but not least to have a great time together.

Planning for Anusmaran'09 started at the alumni office , student alumni bodies and city chapters few months back. Historically , it has been done on a single day which for this year was planned on 16^th. But due to the election results in India clashing with 16^th , and local chapter preferences along with challenges in getting venues on same day , we have an entire week of celebration. The city and venue details are at http://www.iimbaa.org/images/Anusmaran_Cities.JPG . Do connect with your chapter office bearers at http://www.iimbaa.org/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=72&Itemid=111 for detailed agenda , time and other details.

A major thrust for this year is to provide lot of details on whats happening at IIMB campus and our growth plans. We want to engage all alumni in this phase of growth. Students will be calling you personally to ensure maximum participation. We have created a vibrant logo for Anusmaran with the help of a professional agency run by one of senior alums. And guess what , we have 7 sponsors – elite names from the industry , supporting the event . Citibank and Golf Retreat have taken up diamond sponsorships. Hyundai , Emmar MGF and HSBC have taken Gold level and Toyota , Aircel have taken Silver sponsorships.

We request you to confirm your participation with your local chapter. Look forward to seeing you at Anusmaran'09

Regards,

Rakesh Godhwani

Head Alumni Association

IIM Bangalore, E 102

Fwd: IIMB ranks as top Indian B-school in international rankings

2009-05-08T15:15:00.001-07:00

some good stuff about iimb :-)

---------- Forwarded message ----------
From: alumni
Date: Fri, May 8, 2009 at 4:09 PM
Subject: IIMB ranks as top Indian B-school in international rankings

Dear Alumnus,

I am delighted to share with you the good news about the significant rankings achieved by your alma mater in two recent international surveys.

In November 2008, Eduniversal , a unit of French Consulting firm SMBG , ranked IIMB as the top B-school in South Asia/Central Asia/Middle East and among the top 27 B-schools worldwide. The selection endorsed IIMB's international reputation and influence defined as "the capacity of a business school to make a student valuable – and thus to improve their employability – in domestic and international spheres." Notably, the Deans of the 1000 Best Business Schools from 153 countries elected IIMB among the Best Business Schools in the Central Asia zone, with a recommendation rate of 398 per thousand, followed by IIM-A (379) and IIM-C (321), classified under "internationally known".

More recently, in April 2009, IIM Bangalore has been ranked among the top ten in the Asia-Pacific region in the QS Global Top Business Schools 2009: The Employer's Choice published by Quacquarelli Symonds (QS). IIMB is the only Indian management school to rank amongst the top ten, which includes business schools in Australia, Singapore, China and Hong Kong. Significantly, IIMB at sixth place has improved on its ranking from the ninth place it received in the previous 2007-08 report. The survey also states that the average GMAT score of students enrolled in the Post-Graduate Programme in Management at IIMB is 780, which is the highest in the entire Asia-Pacific region – testimony to the talent and caliber of students at IIMB, and why IIMB continues to be a preferred recruitment destination for global positions.

I am sure that we are now poised to achieve greater heights. With help from all of you in the IIMB community, we can, and we are, making significant strides in achieving academic excellence. From this academic year, we will increase our student intake, start new programmes, invest in infrastructure, invite best-in-class faculty and also bring in diverse set of international programs within the curriculum . We want all our alumni to stay engaged and join us in this wonderful chapter of IIMB that we all will be proud of in years to come.

Regards

Pankaj Chandra

Director, IIM Bangalore

votereportindia - trying to ensure a free and fair election

2009-04-13T21:12:00.001-07:00

hi people,

you might be aware that 2 IIMB alumni are contesting the elections (Capt G. R. Gopinath & Manu Digvijay Singh). anyway, please do join/support votereportindia - an initiative by another IIMB Alum (Gaurav Mishra, gauravonomics@gmail.com, http://twitter.com/Gauravonomics) and others, thats looking to use inputs from people to help in a free and fair election.

the note is below. the facebook group is @ http://www.facebook.com/event.php?eid=70441343243&ref=nf.

do help out - spread this message far and wide! and vote.

thanks,

sarin.

==========================================================

The first phase of the 2009 Indian Lok Sabha elections will be held on April 16, 2009 in the following states:

Andhra Pradesh, Arunachal Pradesh, Assam, Bihar, Jammu & Kashmir, Kerala, Maharashtra, Manipur, Meghalaya, Mizoram, Nagaland, Orissa, Uttar Pradesh, Chhattisgarh, Jharkhand, Andaman & Nicobar Islands, and Lakshadweep.

If you are in India, do go out and vote, and do report any irregularities you see.

You can send reports about irregularities in four ways --

1. Send SMS starting with VoteReport to 5676785
2. Send email to report@votereport.in
3. Send tweet with #votereport
4. Submit online at votereport.in

Please participate in this initiative and help us ensure a free, fair and transparent election process in India.

--

============================== =======
Sarin Suares
GSM +91-98184 17762
=====================================

Fwd: The Bible versus Your Cell Phone

2009-03-26T11:07:00.001-07:00

definitely a good one...

---------- Forwarded message ----------
From: PATRICK KERR

The Bible Versus Your Cell Phone

Can you imagine what would happen if we treated our Bible the same way
we treat our cell phone?

If we always carried our Bible in our wallet, briefcase, on our belt,
or in our purse?

And if we looked through it several times a day?

And went back to look for it when we forget it at home or at the office?

And if we used it to send messages to our friends?

And acted like we couldn't live without it?

And gave it as a gift to our young ones, for their own protection, and
in order to stay in constant communication with them?

And took it with us whenever we travel, just in case of an emergency?

Unlike a cell phone, the Bible never loses it signal: We can connect
with it anywhere.

We don't have to worry about being low on minutes, because Jesus
already paid the bill, and the minutes are unlimited.

And, best of all, there are no dropped calls, and the battery never
loses its charge.

"Search for Jehovah, you people, while he may be found. Call to him
while he proves to be near." (Isaiah 55:6)

Emergency numbers:

When you are sad, dial John chapter 14.
When people talk about you, dial Psalm 27.
When you are nervous, dial Psalm 51.
When you are worried, dial Matthew 6: 19, 34.
When you are in danger, dial Psalm 91.
When God seems far off, dial Psalm 63.
When your faith needs strengthening, dial Hebrews 11.
When you are alone and afraid, dial Psalm 23.
When you are being harsh and critical, dial 1 Corinthians 13.
To find the secret to happiness, dial Colossians 3:12-17,
When you are sad and alone, dial Romans 8:31-39.
When you are full of fear, dial 1 John 4:18.
When you desire peace and rest, dial Matthew 11:25-30.

Fwd: Fw: antithesis

2009-01-23T08:19:00.001-08:00

romance in the current times...

---------- Forwarded message ----------
From: Anupam Garg

A local newspaper (in England) ran a competition asking for a rhyme
with the most romantic first line... But the least romantic second
line.

Here are some of the entries they received.

*********

My feelings for you no words can tell,

Except for maybe " go to hell "

*********

Roses are red, violets are blue, sugar is sweet, and so are you.

But the roses are wilting, the violets are dead, the sugar bowl's
empty and so is your head.

*********

Oh loving beauty you float with grace

If only you could hide your face

*********

Kind, intelligent, loving and hot;

This describes everything you are not

*********

I want to feel your sweet embrace

But don't take that paper bag off of your face

*********

I love your smile, your face, and your eyes -

Damn, I'm good at telling lies !

*********

I see your face when I am dreaming.

That's why I always wake up screaming

*********

My love, you take my breath away.

What have you stepped on to smell this way

Fwd: Fw: Satyam Satire !!

2009-01-23T08:15:00.001-08:00

some more stuff on satyam :-)

---------- Forwarded message ----------
From: Anupam Garg

Truth-bytes!

"Satyam", this word was never so much in the news in India, since
Zeenat Aman danced to the number "Satyam Shivam Sundaram"

After knowing so many people getting depressed by the whole Satyam
fiasco, it seems the only people who made money were the
anti-depressant manufacturers.

The saga left politicians dumbfounded because they had never come
across someone who could tell a bigger lie than them.

Pakistanis didn't have a say on this till now as they took time to
figure out the number of zeroes in seven thousand crores.

If some reports are to be believed, BSP and RJD have already
approached Raju with tickets for the upcoming assembly polls and have
given him choice to choose his constituency.

The CID unearthed that MAYTAS, was actually SATYAM spelled in
opposite, so they are trying to figure out different permutation &
combinations with S, A, T, Y, A, M. to get more leads. Till I wrote
this piece, they've already found out that there is a company called
TASMAY and are cross verifying its balance sheets.

While Amul was at its best in putting up a Billboard which said
"Utterly Butterly Malicious"

Politicians and flashy industrialists are never short of opinions;
let's have a look at some:

Mr Ambani has come out saying that Raju never contacted me or I would
have helped him with manipulating accounts.

Aamir Khan has already tattooed his forehead which reads "DON'T BUY
SATYAM SHARES"

Ram Gopal Varma visited the Satyam office in Hyderabad going on with
his habit of visiting the "affected site" but for a change he didn't
have Vilasrao Deshmukh to accompany him. But as soon as Barkha Dutt
saw him, she started yelling on the mike making allegations that he
wanted to make a movie on Satyam.

Mr. Raj Thackeray has already announced that he would not let
Ramalinga Raju step inside Mumbai, even if that was Arthur Road Jail.
If police still try to do so, his followers will pelt stones on the
Jail. He has also called for quota for the "marathi manoos" in scams
occurring henceforth.

Narendra Modi is not happy on the issue because it's not a Gujju after
Harshad Mehta and Ketan Parekh who has rocked the stock market.

Our PM Manmohan Singh has condemned the episode in strongest possible
words, he said, "We will punish the guilty" When the reporter asked
the President's view, he took 5 minutes to recollect the President's
name and said, "I think she is on a foreign tour, so we will wait till
she comes back."

He vows to make sure that the company keeps running as he wants to
abide by our emblem "Satyamev Jayate"

*Disclaimer: This is a satire. Take it with a pinch of salt!

Fwd: Fw: Lighter One on Satyam

2009-01-22T08:30:00.001-08:00

the old joke about how a kid preferred to identify his dad as a male
stripper rather than as an employee of accenture - now applied post
the satyam scandal...

---------- Forwarded message ----------
From: GAGAN SURYAVANSHI

Reams and reams have been written about Satyam now, but this is a
humourous one..

Courtesy: Hindustan Times, Manas Chankravarty.

By all accounts, Satyam ex-chairman Ramalinga Raju is having a
rollicking time in Chanchalguda jail. His popularity among the
inmates, all of whom are in awe of a man who can make Rs 7,000 crore
disappear, knows no bounds. "Some of us affectionately call him by his
nickname Scamalinga," said a petty thief, "But most just call him
Gurudev."

Reports have come in that Raju had 20 idlis for breakfast, five plates
of rice and a bucket of rasam for lunch and 25 chapatis with two
chickens for dinner. But the jail superintendent says these numbers
are inflated. "You see, the habit is so deeply ingrained in Raju that
he automatically inflates all figures," he added. Incidentally, his
cellmate Srinivas Vadlamani, Satyam's ex-chief financial officer who
has denied all knowledge of wrongdoing, said he didn't know whether he
had any meals. "I am not aware whether I had breakfast, lunch or
dinner," he said. "Am I in jail?" he asked.

Meanwhile, insiders say that Raju has decided to teach accountancy in
order to impart his skills to a receptive audience. "I'm really
excited at the prospect of being taught by such a master," said a
murderer serving a life sentence. "My problem has been that I don't
know where to hide the bodies," he explained, "I'm sure that a guy who
can hide Rs 7,000 crore for so many years can easily hide a score of
bodies."

A stream of visitors has also been arriving at the jail, all wanting
to meet Srinivas Vadlamani. Inquiries revealed they were promoters of
companies, eager to have him on their boards. "Where will I get such
an ideal chief financial officer?" asked a person who said he was CEO
of a company called Black Hole Ltd.

Even the jail superintendent says he is extremely happy with Raju. "He
is a financial genius," he exclaimed. He said Raju had outlined a
scheme that could save the jail a huge amount of money. "Raju
explained that all I needed to do was to allow the inmates to choose
their own guards. He said these guards would cost a fraction of the
current salary being paid to jail warders. I was a little hesitant
about prisoners choosing their own jailers at first, but relented when
Raju said that it was exactly the same thing with companies — they all
appoint their own auditors and nobody complains."

Incidentally, even the Naxalite prisoners lodged in the jail are very
happy with Raju. "We have been working for decades to overthrow
capitalism, with no effect," said their ringleader. "And then Comrade
Raju comes along and wrecks the system from within, giving Indian
capitalism a resounding blow." "We're electing him to the party's
central committee," he added.

But Raju is unlikely to take up the offer. He has a job offer from
Nigeria to run the huge network that sends scam emails to people
promising to transfer billions of dollars lying in unclaimed money to
them once they give their bank account numbers and a small advance
payment. Unconfirmed reports say that to make the schemes look
authentic they're thinking of asking accounting firm Pricewaterhouse
to certify them.

Others say Raju is exploring a lucrative option in a related field.
"He's thinking of becoming a godman," said a source, "Which is why he
is reading religious books." Some also say that Raju is being paid a
fat advance for a novel based on his Satyam swindle. "It's clear he
has plenty of experience of writing fiction," pointed out a publisher.

And lastly, in a curious but related incident, teachers at a
prestigious school in Hyderabad were shocked when young Bunty Reddy of
class 5B told his class-teacher that his father was a male bar dancer.
Investigations revealed, however, that his dad was actually an
independent director on the boards of several companies. "In the
circumstances, it's natural for the child to be ashamed of his
parent," said the principal, "And that's why he tried to pass his dad
off as a male stripper."

Fw: The Magician - Guess who? Good one

2009-01-22T08:28:00.000-08:00

:-)

adding to the satyam jokes :-P

---------- Forwarded message ----------
From: Rajat Gupta

Three world famous magicians were in the bar drinking and boasting
about their achievements.

The first one said," During my latest show, I made three women from
the audience disappear, it was so convincing that their relatives
started panicking, no one could find the trick"

The second one said, " Hey, that is nothing, during one of my open air
shows I made the Municipality building disappear and the entire town
was searching for it"

The third one sighed and said," Both of you are so local, I went to
Paris and made the Eiffel Tower disappear for a full one hour, it was
live on the TV, entire France was searching for the building & no one
had a clue".

Just then an Indian walked into the bar and the three magicians
suddenly turned quiet, gave each other fugitive glances and started to
slip towards the door.

A Bartender watching this got curious and asked one of the magicians,
"Hey what happened ? Who is that guy ? "

One of the magicians whispered, "He is the World's greatest magician,
he has done the biggest disappearing trick of all times, we are all
mere amateurs compared with what he has done. His name is Ramalinga
Raju. He has made USD 1.5 billion disappear from his company's balance
sheet in front of everyone's eyes, and the entire world is still
looking for it"

bush... at his best!

2009-01-18T19:31:00.001-08:00

http://www.liveleak.com/view?i=e55_1232132695

check out the video at the bottom of the page...

Fwd: Fw: Raju Jokes

2009-01-16T20:02:00.001-08:00

post the satyam scandal(am)

---------- Forwarded message ----------
From: Anupam Garg

Raju Raju sat on the wall
Raju Raju had a great fall
Balance sheet died
Shareholders cried
Raju Raju made a fraud
------------------------------------------------------------
Raju Raju
Yes baba
Cheating us
No baba
Telling Lies
No baba
Open the balance sheet
HA HA HA
---------------------------------------------------------
Raju's new movie – Satyam Shivam Scandalam
--------------------------------------------------------------
Raju Da Dhaba

Our Specialty
· Chicken Liability Makhani
· Chicken Understated Tangadi
· Fantasy Samosa Receivables
· Hyderabadi Continental Segregated Biryani
· Debt Pakoda
· Inflated Omelets
· Overstated Butter Naan

Chief Guest – Spicewater Inc.

Hustler's Larry Flynt and Girls Gone Wild CEO Joe Francis Ask

2009-01-08T10:44:00.001-08:00

the latest set of people to head to the US government for a
handout.... they definitely need saving :-P

source: bloomberg
+------------------------------------------------------------------------------+

Hustler's Larry Flynt and Girls Gone Wild CEO Joe Francis Ask for Government
Bailout of the Adult Entertainment Industry

The $13 Billion Industry Is In No Fear Of Collapse, But Why Take Chances?

LOS ANGELES, Jan. 7 /PRNewswire/ -- As the 2009 AVN Adult Expo opens in
Las Vegas this week, Girls Gone Wild CEO Joe Francis and HUSTLER magazine
publisher Larry Flynt are petitioning the newly convened 111th Congress to
provide a financial bailout for the adult entertainment industry along the
lines of what is being sought by the Big Three automakers, a spokesperson
for Francis announced today.

Adult industry leaders Flynt and Francis sent a joint request to Congress
asking for $5 billion in federal assistance, "Just to see us through hard
times," Francis said. "Congress seems willing to help shore up our
nation's most important businesses, we feel we deserve the same
consideration. In difficult economic times, Americans turn to
entertainment for relief. More and more, the kind of entertainment they
turn to is adult entertainment."

But according to Flynt the recession has acted like a national cold
shower. "People are too depressed to be sexually active," Flynt says,
"This is very unhealthy as a nation. Americans can do without cars and
such but they cannot do without sex."

While not to the degree felt by banks and automakers, the Adult
Entertainment industry has been hit by the effects of the economic
downturn. DVD sales and rentals have decreased by 22 percent in the past
year as viewers turn to the internet for adult entertainment. It is
estimated that roughly half of all internet users visit adult sites, with
the number of unique visitors to adult websites (including
GirlsGoneWild.com and Hustler.com) has grown to more than 75 million per
month.

But the "saltpeter" effect remains.

"With all this economic misery and people losing all that money, sex is
the farthest thing from their mind," Flynt says, "It's time for congress
to rejuvenate the sexual appetite of America. The only way they can do
this is by supporting the adult industry and doing it quickly."

"The popularity of adult entertainment in America has grown steadily for
the past half century," Francis says. "Its emergence into the mainstream
of popular culture suggests that the US government should actively support
the adult industry's survival and growth, just as it feels the need to
support any other industry cherished by the American people."

the satyam fiasco...

2009-01-07T10:30:00.001-08:00

the best question asked was - why did raju wait so long to turn "gentleman"...

one of the best answers - he was too busy shorting the stock, to be
able to write and send the letter. :-)

Best new year wish

2009-01-05T08:50:00.001-08:00

if you have any wishes that you think compete... lets post em and see :-)

---------- Forwarded message ----------
From: Vivek Sachdev

To find inner peace this new year, finish the things you started !
I finished the vodka, rum, bacardi, some red wine and you have no idea how
peaceful I am now.
Have a wonderful 2009 :-)

Fwd: The 10 Worst Corporations of 2008

2009-01-03T00:47:00.001-08:00

an interesting list - and surprisingly does not include lehman

---------- Forwarded message ----------
From: Aditya Gandhi

http://www.counterpunch.org/weissman12292008.html

I am sure there is the other side to each of these stories as well but
an interesting collation non the less

Fwd: Fw: Thought for the new year

2009-01-03T00:44:00.000-08:00

an experiment done by washington post - they put a world famous
violinist in a metro, and found that no one appreciated the music.

links below:

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/04/04/AR2007040401721.html
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/discussion/2007/04/06/DI2007040601228.html

story further...
---------- Forwarded message ----------
From: Sonam Donkar

Where has time gone ???????????

A Violinist in the Metro

A man sat at a metro station in Washington DC and started to play the
violin; it was a cold January morning. He played six Bach pieces for
about 45 minutes. During that time, since it was rush hour, it was
calculated that thousand of people went through the station, most of
them on their way to work.

Three minutes went by and a middle aged man noticed there was musician
playing. He slowed his pace and stopped for a few seconds and then
hurried up to meet his schedule.

A minute later, the violinist received his first dollar tip: a woman
threw the money in the till and without stopping continued to walk.

A few minutes later, someone leaned against the wall to listen to him,
but the man looked at his watch and started to walk again. Clearly he
was late for work.

The one who paid the most attention was a 3 year old boy. His mother
tagged him along, hurried but the kid stopped to look at the
violinist. Finally the mother pushed hard and the child continued to
walk turning his head all the time. This action was repeated by
several other children. All the parents, without exception, forced
them to move on.

In the 45 minutes the musician played, only 6 people stopped and
stayed for a while. About 20 gave him money but continued to walk
their normal pace. He collected $32. When he finished playing and
silence took over, no one noticed it. No one applauded, nor was there
any recognition.

No one knew this but the violinist was Joshua Bell, one of the best
musicians in the world. He played one of the most intricate pieces
ever written with a violin worth 3.5 million dollars.

Two days before his playing in the subway, Joshua Bell sold out at a
theater in Boston and the seats average $100.

This is a real story. Joshua Bell playing incognito in the metro
station was organized by the Washington Post as part of an social
experiment about perception, taste and priorities of people. The
outlines were: in a commonplace environment at an inappropriate hour:
Do we perceive beauty? Do we stop to appreciate it? Do we recognize
the talent in an unexpected context?

One of the possible conclusions from this experience could be:

If we do not have a moment to stop and listen to one of the best
musicians in the world playing the best music ever written, how many
other things are we missing?

Fwd: The End

2008-12-20T01:24:00.001-08:00

interesting read of how the start of todays crisis can be linked to
the converting of investment banks from partnership firms into
shareholder owned corporations.

---------- Forwarded message ----------
From: Shalabh Agarwal

Good read on the US sub-prime mess. By Michael Lewis (Author of Liar's Poker)

http://www.portfolio.com/news-markets/national-news/portfolio/2008/11/11/The-End-of-Wall-Streets-Boom

cheers,

Shalabh

mginger - another money making scheme :-)

2008-12-02T09:30:00.001-08:00

click any of the links below - to get paid to read sms....

http://mGinger.com/index.jsp?inviteId=134631

http://mGinger.com/index.jsp?inviteId=ss2879

http://mGinger.com/index.jsp?inviteId=9818417762

invite more friends, and get paid for the sms they receive too...
something like that.

cheers!

the difference between man and woman....

2008-11-04T05:32:00.000-08:00

men shopping

2008-10-24T23:34:00.001-07:00

a list of things to do in a shopping mall :-)

---------- Forwarded message ----------
From: noel gomes

DON'T TAKE ME IF I DON'T WANT TO GO...........

After Mr. and Mrs. Fenton retired, Mrs. Fenton insisted her husband accompany her on her trips to K -Mart.

Unfortunately, Mr. Fenton was like most men--he found shopping boring and preferred to get in and get out.

Equally unfortunately, Mrs. Fenton was like most women--she loved to browse. One day Mrs. Fenton received the following letter from her local K -Mart.

===================================================================
Dear Mrs. Fenton,

Over the past six months, your husband has been causing quite a commotion in our store. We cannot tolerate this behaviour and may be forced to ban both of you from the store. Our complaints against Mr. Fenton are listed below and are documented by our video surveillance cameras.

1. June 15: Took 24 boxes of condoms and randomly put them in people's carts when they weren't looking.

2. July 2: Set all the alarm clocks in Housewares to go off at 5-minute intervals.

3. July 7: Made a trail of tomato juice on the floor leading to the women's restroom.

4. July 19: Walked up to an employee and told her in an official voice, 'Code 3 in Housewares. Get on it right away.'

5. August 4: Went to the Service Desk and tried to put a bag of M&M's on lay -b y.

6. September 14: Moved a 'CAUTION - WET FLOOR' sign to a carpeted area.

7. September 15: Set up a tent in the camping department and told other shoppers he'd invite them in if they would bring pillows and blankets from the bedding department.

8. September 23: When a clerk asked if they could help him he began crying and screamed, 'Why can't you people just leave me alone?'

9. October 4: Looked right into the security camera and used it as a mirror while he picked his nose.

10 November 10: While handling guns in the hunting department, he asked the clerk where the antidepressants were.

11. December 3: Darted around the store suspiciously while loudly humming the ' Mission Impossible' theme.

12. December 6: In the auto department, he practiced his 'Madonna look' by using different sizes of funnels.

13. December 18: Hid in a clothing rack and when people browsed through, yelled 'PICK ME! PICK ME!'

14. December 21: When an announcement came over the loud speaker, he assumed a foetal position and screamed 'OH NO! IT'S THOSE VOICES AGAIN!'

And last, but not least ..

15. December 23: Went into a fitting room, shut the door, waited awhile, then yelled very loudly, 'Hey! There's no toilet paper in here!'

something for financials to think about... :-)

2008-10-16T01:49:00.000-07:00

checking your gender based on your browsing history

2008-09-18T01:30:00.000-07:00

check if you are who you think you are :-)

---------- Forwarded message ----------
From: Aditya Gandhi

http://www.mikeonads.com/2008/07/13/using-your-browser-url-history-estimate-gender/

Fwd: The Great Tantra Challenge by a Rationalist

2008-09-15T07:32:00.001-07:00

hilarious

---------- Forwarded message ----------
From: Tino de Sa
Date: Mon, Sep 15, 2008 at 7:09 PM
Subject: The Great Tantra Challenge by a Rationalist

In times when superstition holds so much fascination for so many of
us, here is a sobering story about the triumph of rationalism.
Let us not dismiss this by saying that "we" don't believe in black
magic. We don't. But can we really say that we are free of all
superstition? Superstition is sinful because it ascribes powers to
things that rightfully belong to God alone.
Jesus set us free from the yoke of superstition - astrology,
palmistry, vastu, feng shui, 'lucky' colours and numbers - all these
are nothing but yokes that weigh us down. Have the courage to shake
free from it all, and trust in God alone!
Cheers1
Tino

Subject: The power of black magic (Wake up people its time)

The Great Tantra Challenge

On 3 March 2008, in a popular TV show, Sanal Edamaruku, the president
of Rationalist International, challenged India 's most "powerful"
tantrik (black magician) to demonstrate his powers on him. That was
the beginning of an unprecedented experiment. After all his chanting
of mantra (magic words) and ceremonies of tantra failed, the tantrik
decided to kill Sanal Edamaruku with the "ultimate destruction
ceremony" on live TV. Sanal Edamaruku agreed and sat in the altar of
the black magic ritual. India TV observed skyrocketing viewership
rates.
Everything started, when Uma Bharati (former chief minister of the
state of Madhya Pradesh) accused her political opponents in a public
statement of using tantrik powers to inflict damage upon her. In fact,
within a few days, the unlucky lady had lost her favorite uncle, hit
the door of her car against her head and found her legs covered with
wounds and blisters.
India TV, one of India 's major Hindi channels with national outreach,
invited Sanal Edamaruku for a discussion on "Tantrik power versus
Science". Pandit Surinder Sharma, who claims to be the tantrik of top
politicians and is well known from his TV shows, represented the other
side. During the discussion, the tantrik showed a small human shape of
wheat flour dough, laid a thread around it like a noose and tightened
it. He claimed that he was able to kill any person he wanted within
three minutes by using black magic. Sanal challenged him to try and
kill him.
The tantrik tried. He chanted his mantras (magic words): " Om
lingalingalinalinga, kilikili…." But his efforts did not show any
impact on Sanal – not after three minutes, and not after five. The
time was extended and extended again. The original discussion program
should have ended here, but the "breaking news" of the ongoing great
tantra challenge was overrunning all program schedules.

Now the tantrik changed his technique. He started sprinkling water on
Sanal and brandishing a knife in front of him. Sometimes he moved the
blade all over his body. Sanal did not flinch. Then he touched Sanal's
head with his hand, rubbing and rumpling up his hair, pressing his
forehead, laying his hand over his eyes, pressing his fingers against
his temples. When he pressed harder and harder, Sanal reminded him
that he was supposed to use black magic only, not forceful attacks to
bring him down. The tantrik took a new run: water, knife, fingers,
mantras. But Sanal kept looking very healthy and even amused.
After nearly two hours, the anchor declared the tantrik's failure. The
tantrik, unwilling to admit defeat, tried the excuse that a very
strong god whom Sanal might be worshipping obviously protected him.
"No, I am an atheist," said Sanal Edamaruku. Finally, the disgraced
tantrik tried to save his face by claiming that there was a
never-failing special black magic for ultimate destruction, which
could, however, only been done at night. Bad luck again, he did not
get away with this, but was challenged to prove his claim this very
night in another "breaking news" live program.

During the next three hours, India TV ran announcements for The Great
Tantra Challenge that called several hundred million people to their
TV sets.
The encounter took place under the open night sky. The tantrik and his
two assistants were kindling a fire and staring into the flames. Sanal
was in good humour. Once the ultimate magic was invoked, there
wouldn't be any way back, the tantrik warned. Within two minutes,
Sanal would get crazy, and one minute later he would scream in pain
and die. Didn't he want to save his life before it was too late? Sanal
laughed, and the countdown begun. The tantriks chanted their " Om
lingalingalingalinga, kilikilikili…." followed by ever changing
cascades of strange words and sounds. The speed increased
hysterically. They threw all kinds of magic ingredients into the
flames that produced changing colours, crackling and fizzling sounds
and white smoke. While chanting, the tantrik came close to Sanal,
moved his hands in front of him and touched him, but was called back
by the anchor. After the earlier covert attempts of the tantrik to use
force against Sanal, he was warned to keep distance and avoid touching
Sanal. But the tantrik "forgot" this rule again and again.
Now the tantrik wrote Sanal's name on a sheet of paper, tore it into
small pieces, dipped them into a pot with boiling butter oil and threw
them dramatically into the flames. Nothing happened. Singing and
singing, he sprinkled water on Sanal, mopped a bunch of peacock
feathers over his head, threw mustard seed into the fire and other
outlandish things more. Sanal smiled, nothing happened, and time was
running out. Only seven more minutes before midnight, the tantrik
decided to use his ultimate weapon: the clod of wheat flour dough. He
kneaded it and powdered it with mysterious ingredients, then asked
Sanal to touch it. Sanal did so, and the grand magic finale begun. The
tantrik pierced blunt nails on the dough, then cut it wildly with a
knife and threw them into the fire. That moment, Sanal should have
broken down. But he did not. He laughed. Forty more seconds, counted
the anchor, twenty, ten, five… it's over!

Millions of people must have uttered a sigh of relief in front their
TVs. Sanal was very much alive. Tantra power had miserably failed.
Tantriks are creating such a scaring atmosphere that even people, who
know that black magic has no base, can just break down out of fear,
commented a scientist during the program. It needs enormous courage
and confidence to challenge them by actually putting one's life at
risk, he said. By doing so, Sanal Edamaruku has broken the spell, and
has taken away much of the fear of those who witnessed his triumph.
In this night, one of the most dangerous and wide spread superstitions
in India suffered a severe blow.
The whole program is video-recorded and is available. If you want a
copy, please contact: info_desk@rationalistinternational.net

http://www.rationalistinternational.net/article/2008/20080310/en_1.html

Fwd: Sign the Petition Against Attack on Christians in Orissa

2008-08-29T09:19:00.001-07:00

perhaps you should check this out....

---------- Forwarded message ----------
From: Deven S.
Date: Fri, Aug 29, 2008 at 1:06 PM
Subject: Sign the Petition Against Attack on Christians in Orissa
To:

Dear Friends,

I have just read and signed the online petition:

"Petition Against Attack on Christians in Orissa"

hosted on the web by PetitionOnline.com, the free online petition
service, at:

http://www.PetitionOnline.com/RAJ1962/

I personally agree with what this petition says, and I think you might
agree, too. If you can spare a moment, please take a look, and consider
signing yourself.

Best wishes,

Deven

LOL: old people

2008-07-25T07:19:00.001-07:00

a nice joke... :-)

---------- Forwarded message ----------
From: Sunil Kumar

Nobody Believes Old People... Everyone thinks we're senile.
An elderly couple who were childhood sweethearts had married and
settled down in their old neighborhood and are celebrating their
sixtieth Wedding Anniversary...
They walk down the street to their old school - There, they hold hands
as they find the old desk they'd shared and where he had carved 'I
love you, Sally'...
On their way back home, a bag of money falls out of an Armored Car
practically at their feet... She quickly picks it up, but they don't
know what to do with it so they take it home...
There, she counts the money, and it's fifty-thousand dollars...
The husband says, 'We've got to give it back'... She says, 'Finders
keepers'... And she puts the money back in the bag and hides it up in
their attic...
The next day, two FBI men are going door-to-door in the neighborhood
looking for the money and show up at their home...
They say, 'Pardon me, but did either of you find any money that fell
out of an Armored Car yesterday.?'
She says, 'No'...
The husband says, 'She's lying... She hid it up in the attic'...
She says, 'Don't believe him, he's getting senile'...
But the Agents sat the man down and begin to question him...
One says, 'Tell us the story from the beginning'...
The old man says, 'Well, when Sally and I were walking home from
school yesterday . . .'
The FBI Agent looks at his partner and says, 'We're outta here . . .

funky ad - axe

2008-07-23T06:34:00.000-07:00

check out this funky add of axe :-)

dancing...

2008-07-08T00:38:00.000-07:00

matt harding doing his thing... around the world... :-)

If words can kill!!!

2008-07-03T22:49:00.001-07:00

---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
from: Charu Gupta

The exchange between Churchill & Lady Astor:
She said, "If you were my husband I'd give you poison,"
and he said, "If you were my wife, I'd drink it."

A Member of Parliament to Disraeli: "Sir, you will either die on the
gallows or of some unspeakable disease."
"That depends, Sir," said Disraeli, "on whether I embrace your
policies or your mistress."

"I have never killed a man, but I have read many obituaries with great
pleasure." - Clarence Darrow

"Thank you for sending me a copy of your book; I'll waste no time
reading it." - Moses Hadas

"I didn't attend the funeral, but I sent a nice letter saying I
approved of it." Mark Twain

"He has no enemies, but is intensely disliked by his friends." - Oscar Wilde

"I am enclosing two tickets to the first night of my new play; bring a
friend.... if you have one." - George Bernard Shaw to Winston
Churchill
"Cannot possibly attend first night, will attend second... if there is
one." - Winston Churchill, in response.

"I feel so miserable without you; it's almost like having you here." -
Stephen Bishop

"I've just learned about his illness. Let's hope it's nothing
trivial." - Irvin S. Cobb

"He is not only dull himself; he is the cause of dullness in others."
- Samuel Johnson

"He has the attention span of a lightning bolt." - Robert Redford

"In order to avoid being called a flirt, she always yielded easily." -
Charles, Count Talleyrand

"He loves nature in spite of what it did to him." - Forrest Tucker

"Why do you sit there looking like an envelope without any address on
it?" - Mark Twain

"His mother should have thrown him away and kept the stork. - Mae West

"Some cause happiness wherever they go; others, whenever they go." -
Oscar Wilde

"He uses statistics as a drunken man uses lamp-posts... for support
rather than illumination." - Andrew Lang (1844-1912)

HOW THE JEWS got THE COMMANDMENTS

2008-06-26T21:43:00.001-07:00

a good laugh :-)

---------- Forwarded message ----------

From: Nikhil Lasrado

How The Jews Got The Ten Commandments

God went to the Arabs and said, ' I have Commandments for you, that will make your lives better '

The Arabs asked, ' What are Commandments? Can you give us an example? '

God said, ' For example ........... Thou shall not kill '

The Arabs were shocked, ' What? Not kill? No way! Killing and massacring innocent people is our birthright and the only reason for our existence. No. We are not interested '

So God went to the Africans and said, ' I have Commandments '

The Africans wanted an example.

God said, ' For example ........... Honor thy Father and Mother '

The Africans were dismayed. They said, ' Father? Yo maan! Can't tell for sure, who our fathers are, maan! '

So God went to the Mexicans and said, ' I have Commandments '

The Mexicans wanted an example.

God said, ' For example ........... Thou shall not steal '

The Mexicans were flabbergasted.. They said, ' No steal? No steal??? Hey Senor, we no steal then how we live, huh? Gracias, but no! '

So God went to the French and said, ' I have Commandments '

The French wanted an example.

God said, ' For example ........... Thou shall not commit adultery '

The French were stunned. They said, ' What? Not commit ze adultery ....... ? Non, Non, Non. Non Monsieur. Pardonnez nous. We ze French, must have ze romance '

So God went to the Jews and said, ' I have Commandments '

They asked, ' Commandments? How much do they cost? '

God replied, ' They are free '

The Jews answered, ' Good. We shall take Ten!!! '

Fwd: Fw: PETROL IS CHEAP.................!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!.....................

2008-06-10T08:00:00.001-07:00

an interesting set of prices....

From: Geetika Moudgil

I filled up my car's fuel tank, and I thought fuel has become really expensive after the recent price hike.

But then I compared it with other common liquids and did some quick calculations, and I felt a little better.

To know why, see the results below – you'll be surprised at how outrageous some other prices are ! !

Diesel (regular) in Delhi : Rs.34.80 per litre

Petrol (speed) in Delhi : Rs.54.56 per litre

Coca Cola 330 ml can : Rs.20 = Rs.61 per litre

Dettol antiseptic 100 ml Rs.20 = Rs.200 per litre

Radiator coolant 500 ml Rs.160 = Rs.320 per litre

Pantene conditioner 400 ml Rs.165 = Rs.413 per litre

Medicinal Mouthwash like Listerine 100 ml Rs.45 = Rs. 450 per litre

Red Bull 150 ml can : Rs.75 = Rs.500 per litre

Corex cough syrup 100 ml Rs.57 = Rs. 570 per litre

Evian water 500 ml Rs. 330 = Rs. 660 per litre

Rs. 660 for a litre of WATER !! And the buyers don't even know the source (Evian spelled backwards is Naive..)

Kores whiteout 15 ml Rs. 15 = Rs. 1000 per litre

Cup of coffee at any decent business hotel 100 ml Rs. 50 = Rs. 500 per litre

Old Spice after shave lotion 100 ml Rs. 175 = Rs. 1750 per litre

Pure almond oil 25 ml Rs. 68 = Rs. 2720 per litre

And this is the REAL KICKER...

HP DeskJet colour ink cartridge 21 ml Rs.1900 = Rs. 90476 per litre!!!

Now you know why computer printers are so cheap ? So they have you hooked for the ink !

So, the next time you're at the pump, don't curse anyone – just be glad your car doesn't run on cough syrup, after shave, coffee, or God forbid, printer ink !

Re: New Exam pattern in India (Revised)

2008-06-08T05:01:00.001-07:00

my personal experience differs on the "abilities" of people given reservations.

almost none of the "reserved" category students in my batch at iit/iim (both) could get even to the half way mark in terms of ranking, when compared on a like to like basis against the general category students - which was the actual internal exams, where there were no reservations / caste based marking scheme.

i'm all for reservations, but definitely not at the post graduate level. even at the graduate level, i think there is a flimsy case to promote need over merit.

if at all reservations are needed, they should be at the primary/high school levels. from then on (grad/post grad/doc etc.), people really need to be fighting for their own survival basis their capabilities - at least a sports quota has some benefit to the institute, in much the same way as "donations" do.

i think there was some talk about public schools in delhi being forced to keep a certain number of seats for the poorer section of society, who could not afford it (columba's and most other missionary schools do implement something of this sort anyway). i think thats a significantly better way to address the inequality, than taking the silver spoon from one mouth and shoving it into another.

thanks to the "reservation" scheme of things, people trying to get into higher education on merit are now at a disadvantage, and soon might need reservations themselves.

my 2 cents.

On Thu, Jun 5, 2008 at 2:58 PM, Tino de Sa wrote:

Dear Albert:

I know that you have sent this mail in good faith, and as a well-meaning jest without malicious intent, and so please don't take what I am saying personally.

However, I think that putting this on a church-based google group is somewhat insensitive - and unfair. My reasons:

The mail generally ridicules 'reservations'.

But the truth is that several thousands of our Catholics have benefited from ST reservations - and I can vouch for the fact that in my experience I have found such beneficiaries second to none in their abilities and integrity, whereas the mail gives the impression that STs are so incapable that they need not even appear for exams!

Insofar as SCs are concerned, as you may be aware, the official position of the Church, as well as laity-led Catholic groups (such as the Catholic Associations, Catholic Sabha etc.) has always been that so long as there exist reservations, they should not be religion-based, and that Catholic dalits too should be entitled to benefit from SC reservations (currently available only to Hindu, Sikh and Buddhist SCs).

It has become somewhat fashionable for educated and well-placed Christians to ridicule the reservation policy. But we must not forget that with all its faults, it is still an instrument of social justice. The vast majority of Christians in India (some 60%) are either ST or of SC origin. While the ST benefits are available without relgious discrimination (so Christian tribals too can, and do, get the benefit), the SC benefits are religion-restricted, and Christian dalits are denied them.

Without a doubt, the reservation policy needs to be reformed (such as, for example, introducing the 'creamy layer' principle, so that a small number of well off people do not 'corner' the benefits generation after generation, and they are spread more equitably among the most deprived among the deprived). But junking the whole policy lock, stock and barrel is not a socially desirable option. At least, that is not the position of official church organizations.

The danger with ridiculing the reservation policy is that the status quo tends to be maintained, and with it, the injustice to Christians dalits. Simultaneously, it is insulting to Christian tribals who may have happened to get the benefit.

That is the reason why I have 'reservations' about this 'joke' being circulated on a church e-group!

No offence meant personally to anyone - and particularly not to Albert.

Cheers!

Tino
On 6/5/08, albert rigo wrote:
New Exam pattern in India (Revised):

1. General students - Answer ALL questions.

2. OBC - WRITE ANY one question.

3. SC - ONLY READ questions.

4. ST - THANKS FOR COMING..

AND.

5. Gujjars- THANKS FOR ALLOWING OTHERS TO ATTEND THE EXAMINATION .. !!

CHEERS TO RESERVATION......
========================================================================================================================
 

Fwd: Fw: Obituary of the late Mr. Common Sense

2008-06-03T06:01:00.000-07:00

oh... for a little common sense :-)

---------- Forwarded message ----------
From: Lawrence Sequeira

Good one.

Regards

Lawrence Jawahar Sequeira

London Times Obituary of the late Mr. Common Sense
Date: Sunday, May 4, 2008, 5:29 PM

Interesting and sadly rather true.

'Today we mourn the passing of a beloved old friend, Common Sense, who has
been with us for many years. No one knows for sure how old he was, since
his birth records were long ago lost in bureaucratic red tape. He will be
remembered as having cultivated such valuable lessons as:
Knowing when to come in out of the rain; why the early bird gets the worm;
Life isn't always fair; and maybe it was my fault.

Common Sense lived by simple, sound financial policies (don't spend more
than you can earn) and reliable strategies (adults, not children, are in
charge).

His health began to deteriorate rapidly when well-intentioned but
overbearing regulations were set in place. Reports of a 6-year-old boy
charged with sexual harassment for kissing a classmate; teens suspended
from school for using mouthwash after lunch; and a teacher fired for
reprimanding an unruly student, only worsened his condition.

Common Sense lost ground when parents attacked teachers for doing the job
that they themselves had failed to do in disciplining their unruly
children.

It declined even further when schools were required to get parental consent
to administer sun lotion or an Aspirin to a student; but could not inform
parents when a student became pregnant and wanted to have an abortion.

Common Sense lost the will to live as criminals received better treatment
than their victims. Common Sense took a beating when you couldn't defend
yourself from a burglar in your own home and the burglar could sue you for
assault.

Common Sense finally gave up the will to live, after a woman failed to
realize that a steaming cup of coffee was hot. She spilled a little in her
lap, and was promptly awarded a huge settlement.

Common Sense was preceded in death by his parents, Truth and Trust; his
wife, Discretion; his daughter, Responsibility; and his son, Reason. He is
survived by his 4 stepbrothers; I Know My Rights, I Want It Now, Someone
Else Is To Blame, and I'm A Victim..

Not many attended his funeral, because so few realized he was gone. If you
still remember him, pass this on. If not, join the majority and do
nothing.'
=================================================

Fwd: Trivia : 100 years on and Delhiites aren't traveling any faster

2008-06-03T05:59:00.000-07:00

didn't we all have a sinking feeling about this :-P

---------- Forwarded message ----------
From: Vandana Nayar

Delhi today boasts of an efficient Metro system, then there is the controversial BRT corridor, low-floor buses, some of the swankiest cars on the roads, and wide, mostly well-maintained roads. One would think that traveling in India's Capital would be smooth. Think again.

An average Delhi citizen spends nearly five years of his life traveling on the roads, stuck in traffic jams. Delhi has the highest vehicular population in India and the traffic situation has been going from bad to worse.

The Automobile Association in London had conducted a study, which proved that traffic in Central London today moved at the same speed as traffic on a horse carriage moved a hundred years ago. Star News set out to investigate whether the same holds for Delhi.

Three Star News correspondents traveled on common routes in Delhi. Atir Khan traveled from Shalimar Bagh to Connaught Place; Anurag Muskan traveled from Vasant Kunj to Connaught Place and Swapnil Saraswat traveled from Dwarka to Connaught Place.

And guess what they found – it takes longer to travel in Delhi today than it did a hundred years ago on horse!

These journeys were mapped and timings noted. A hundred years ago, there was hardly any traffic on the roads. To simulate conditions similar to those, the same journey was undertaken by horses at night. The horses followed the exact same route as the cars earlier in the day. In all three cases the horses took less time to complete the journey than the cars before them.

The journeys

1) Vasant Kunj to Connaught Place (via Vasant Vihar)
Distance covered: 18 km
Time taken by car at 9.10 am: 1.25 hours
Time taken by horse at 10.15 pm: 1 hour

The horse reached 25 minutes earlier

2) Shalimar Bagh to Connaught Place
Distance covered: 24 km
Time taken by car at 8.50 am: 1.50 hours
Time taken by horse at 10.00 pm: 1.25 hour
The horse reached 25 minutes earlier

3) Dwarka to Connaught Place
Distance covered: 22 km
Time taken by car at 8.50 am: 1.20 hours
Time taken by horse at 10.00pm: 1.15 hour
The horse reached five minutes earlier